Polymerization
by LileyKigoSpashleyRizzslesLover
Summary: Sequel to "Twist Tie". Jane and Maura go through the ups and downs of planning a wedding. Jane/Maura
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I know it's been a while since I posted Twist Tie but I did promise a sequel. This starts out as soon as that story ends so it takes place in September 2010. I am attempting to go through the months to bring us up to when they have the wedding in January. This may not be the longest fic I've written but it's taken the most work – and is still being worked on – and I hope you enjoy. I hope to post a chapter at least every other day but there are no promises. Also, I've never planned a wedding before and only ever been to one so forgive me if it's not how the process goes, I did a lot of research to try and make sure it was.

XXXXX

Maura looked down at the 'ring' on her finger. Sure, it wasn't what she was supposed to dream of as a little girl but, somehow, it seemed a lot better. She looked up and watched Jane and her parents interact. She smiled at them and knew that this would be what the rest of her life consisted of: watching mother and daughter bicker lovingly while Jane's father shakes his head.

She excused herself, deciding it best to leave the three of them to talk for the time being, and went across the hall. She nodded to Korsak standing outside of Frankie's room drinking a coffee and knocked on the door gently before letting herself in.

"Hi Frankie." Maura greeted the young officer.

"Hey Maura." He said, turning towards her. "I'm really happy for you, you know that?" He spoke softly, still feeling weak.

She smiled and looked down at her 'ring' again. "Thanks."

"I'm serious. I'm not just sayin' it to be nice. You two deserve each other." He said with all the conviction he could muster in his condition. It wasn't much, but the meaning got through.

Maura just looked down at the bedridden man with fondness. She patted his head as a silent thank you but figured that wasn't enough. She looked down at him as she spoke. "Frankie, thank you. Thank you for talking to Jane. Thank you for pushing me to talk to her. Just – thank you." The emotion behind her words could be heard in her voice and seen in her eyes.

"It's no biggie, really. Like I said before: you two deserve each other."

Maura smiled and bent down to hug him while being wary of his injuries. "You're going to make the best brother-in-law."

"And you're gonna be a great sister-in-law." Frankie replied when she pulled away."Man, I still can't believe it though. My sister's gettin' married." He looked up at her. "You tell your parents yet?"

Maura froze in place. Her parents? She hadn't thought about them yet. She needed to sit down; she felt kind of light headed.

"You okay, Maura?" Frankie shifted to be able to see her. She looked worried.

"I haven't…. told them, that is. I don't know how they're going to take it." Her look turned to panic. "What if they don't like her? What if they hate me for this? What if –"

"Maura!" Frankie tried to snap her out of it. "It'll be fine, I promise. How could they _not_ like Jane?"

Frankie's hypothesis seemed valid. After all, Jane was, at least to her, a very likeable person. If she wasn't then how would one explain Jorge, Grant, and the numerous other men that sought her affection. Regardless, Maura was pessimistic about it. "Thanks, Frankie, but … you don't know my parents."

"How bad could they be?" Frankie asked, trying to comfort her. "They raised you."

"No, actually, _I_ raised me." Maura stated matter-of-factually. She saw the confused look on his face and decided she needed to explain to him her life story.

"Wow… tough break." That was all Frankie could say after she had talked about her childhood and all the benign neglect present then. She also talked about how she pretty much spent most of her young life in boarding schools.

Maura just nodded, not sure if he was referring all or just some of what she said. A semi-awkward silence passed over the room.

"So… how's your turtle?" Frankie asked, trying to make conversation.

"Tortoise." Maura corrected, somewhat annoyed. "I don't understand why you Rizzoli's have such a hard time with – Oh, no! Bass! I completely forgot about him! He must be so alone! And scared!" She darted out of the room without another word, leaving Frankie alone and confused.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, in the room across the hall, Jane was getting the third degree from her mom about being a cop. Again.

"I just don't understand why you won't quit! You're gonna give me a heart attack! Is that what you want? For your mother to die because you're selfish!"

"Selfish? You know what? I'm –"A loud beeping noise interrupted her speech. A few seconds later a nurse ran in.

"What happened?" She asked as she checked Jane's vitals.

"Uh… what do you mean?" Jane hadn't a clue as to what was going on.

"Your heart rate and blood pressure shot up very quickly."

"I wonder why." Jane said dryly, casting a glance at her mother who innocently avoided the gaze.

"Well whatever it was," she started, putting her stethoscope back around her neck, "don't let it happen again." She gave Jane a pointed look and then left the room.

"Jane, I –"

"You heard the woman, Ma." Jane warned, really not wanting to get into it again. "Why don't you check on Frankie? And send Maura back in."

Angela sighed but nodded. Normally she wouldn't have given up so easily but being in a hospital bed kind of swayed the argument in Jane's favor. She left.

Frank patted Jane on the shoulder before following his wife.

Jane exhaled, slightly annoyed. She didn't like dealing with her mother sometimes, especially when she got on her case about her job. She knew she shouldn't be stressing about this so she just decided to close her eyes and await Maura's return.

XXXXX

"Oh, Bass, sweetie! I'm so sorry!" She leaned down and patted the reptile's hard shell. Bass looked up at her, seemingly with a look of forgiveness. Maura's face broke out in a grin. "I knew you'd understand!"

She stood back up to scan the area. With a promise that she'd be back, the M.E. began to gather some things she left behind in the craziness of a few hours ago.

"Did you even tell them that you left?" Korsak asked, slightly irritated at being Maura's chauffeur for the day.

"No." She handed him the varied items she gathered before picking up Bass and placing him in his carrier.

"Whoa!" He jumped back, seeing Bass for the first time. "You just let that thing walk around here? You don't even put it in a box?"

"A box! Bass is very well mannered. If he can roam my residence I don't see why he can't explore my workplace."

"It's a turtle!" He said,

"Tortoise."

Korsak rolled his eyes. "Does it matter?"

Maura shot him a look that was quite similar to being faced with the barrel of a gun.

"Sorry."

"No… I am. I know we've all had a rough day. I'm sure all you want to do is go home but I keep making you drive me around. I can call a cab, you go home."

Korsak shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine. Besides, it's better than trying to help sort out the mess that Bobby made."

Maura nodded. As she brought her hand up to grab something else off a nearby table she saw her ring again and remembered that Korsak hadn't heard the news. "Oh! Um… Jane proposed to me."

"What? Really? I didn't even know you two were dating."

"We weren't but, thanks to your quick thinking, she wanted to make it official. Now we really are engaged."

"You're kidding me."

"No. Not at all."

"I mean…. I knew you two would… but not this soon." He was surprised at the news but also very happy. "Anyway, congratulations, Maura. You two are going to be so happy together."

The M.E. nodded in agreement. "Thanks. I think so too."

"So… you two think about a date yet?"

"Not yet. I haven't even told my parents."

"Oh… right, well I guess it _did _just happen."

"Yeah." She said nervously. "But I guess I probably should tell them."

"I can take him to my car while you call them." Korsak offered, pointing at Bass' cage.

She nodded and pulled out her cell phone. "Thanks." She dialed the number, watching the detective pick up her beloved pet and walk out the door.

"Hello Mother." She said to the answering voice. "I… uh… have some news." She tried to make her voice sound happy and excited, even though she was dreading the likely response. "Well… I think it might be best to tell you in person. Tomorrow? Um… sure, I'm free." She sighed internally, wishing it would be later so Jane could be by her side. "Alright, see you then!" Without giving herself time to dwell on her new plans, she grabbed the rest of her previously forgotten items and met Korsak outside.

XXXXX

"Thank you for driving me today." Maura said while she took Bass' carrier out of car.

"It's no problem, Maura." He smiled at her. "You sure you don't need any help with that?"

She shook her head slightly as she answered. "No. I've taken enough of your time today. You can go. I'll take my own car."

He nodded and waited for her to get inside before he drove off.

Maura put down Bass' cage and opened it, letting him roam free, before she collapsed on her couch. Her mind was going wild with possible conversations for tomorrow, all ending badly. Jane wasn't exactly who her parents had in mind for her to marry. They always pictured her with someone more like herself, like Garret was. Nevertheless, she would stand her ground. Maura loved Jane and would rather lose them than lose her.

A tap on her foot broke her from her thoughts and caused her to look down. "Oh, hi Bass. You must be hungry, I'm sorry." She got up to fill his bowl with some of his favorite vegetables.

She watched Bass eat, happy that he seemed to be getting better, until her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Maura? Where are you?"

"I'm at home, Jane. Sorry I just left. I had forgotten about Bass."

"It's okay. Are you coming back?" She asked, hopeful.

Maura smiled into the phone. "Yes, of course."

"Good. I can't wait to see you." Her voice was flirty and so full of love.

"Same here." She sighed and then was struck with a thought. "Wait… didn't you leave your phone at work?"

"I'm using Ma's."

"Her cell phone?" Maura's tone turned disapproving. "Jane, hospital policy clearly states a banning of cell phones. It could interfere with the machines."

"Jesus, sorry Maura. I'll turn it off."

"No, I'm sorry." Maura said, realizing she may have overreacted. "I just don't want there to be any chance of danger to you."

"Aww… I didn't know you cared." Jane said jokingly.

Maura didn't catch it, as her expression turned quizzical. "Of course I care. I'm marrying you, aren't I?"

"I – never mind. Just get here soon, Isles."

"Sure thing, _Rizzoli_." She responded with a slight chuckle before hanging up. She made sure Bass was doing okay and had enough water before she gathered a few items and left the house.

XXXXX

Maura arrived back at the hospital rather quickly, being lucky to not run into a single red light – a rare feat in Boston. After parking, she headed inside and nodded to the receptionist before making her way towards Jane's room. She saw Frank and Angela through Frankie's open door and gave them a slight wave before turning to Jane's door.

Jane heard a light knock and prayed it was Maura and not another pushy nurse again before she called for them to enter.

"How are you feeling?" Maura asked, even though it hasn't been that long since they last saw one another.

"Better now that you're here." Jane said honestly. She scooted over and patted the empty bed space next to her, wanting the doctor to come over next to her.

She complied, climbing onto the bed. It was a tight fit but they managed. Jane had wrapped her arm around the M.E.'s shoulders, allowing the other girl to snuggle into her closely.

They laid in silence for a few minutes, not really needing to say anything at the moment.

Jane looked down in confusion when she felt Maura's body moving. It took her a moment to realize she was sobbing. "Maura?"

Maura just pressed herself further into Jane's uninjured side. No matter how much she willed them away, the tears wouldn't stop.

Jane rubbed Maura soothingly, trying to comfort her. After a few minutes she felt Maura pull away and look up at her. She wiped the tears staining her love's face away.

"I'm sorry." Maura said, voice breaking slightly with emotion.

Jane shook her head. "Don't be. It's been a rough day."

"Yeah… I just – I guess it just really caught up to me. I could have lost you today." More tears started to well up. Jane wiped them away immediately.

"Well, you didn't. I'm here. You're not gonna lose me anytime soon."

"You can't promise that." Maura said. "Things happen, Jane. Today is just proof of that."

"Okay, you've got me there. But today also proves that I'm not going without a fight. I'm gonna be here, Maura."

The M.E. looked up at her fiancée and smiled. She shifted just enough to place a kiss on Jane's awaiting lips and cupped her face, staring into the brown eyes. A tear escaped her eye but this time it was not due to distress. "I really do love you, Jane. So so much." That was the first time those words have been spoken to Jane and Maura felt fantastic.

Jane beamed. "I love you too." She wiped away the stray tear with her thumb and brought Maura in for a passionate, loving and very intricate kiss. When they pulled away she spied the white object on Maura's finger. "And I promise to get you a better ring when I get out of here."

"You don't need to go through the trouble, Jane. It's an unnecessary cost."

Jane laughed. "You're telling me you don't want a ring?"

"No. I'm telling you you don't have to get me one."

"But you deserve a _real_ one." Jane urged. "Not some piece of trash!"

Maura looked offended and held her hand close to her, protectively. "It's not trash! It's the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me!"

Jane laughed at Maura's actions. "But you won't be able to keep it forever." She stifled a laugh when Maura seemed absolutely heartbroken over that fact.

"I don't need a diamond ring, Jane. This one's special."

Jane was unconvinced but dropped it for now. "So how's Bass?" She asked after a few minutes.

"He's doing better. He was eating earlier."

"That's good to hear." Jane said with well hidden mock-sincerity. It's not that she wanted Bass to be sick she just didn't really care that much about the reptile. She had a suspicion Bass held similar feelings towards her and she really didn't want to compete for Maura's affection.

"Yes. But…" She sighed. "I talked to my mother today."

"You did? Is she upset about this?"

"I didn't tell her. I'm going to see her tomorrow." She said, worry evident on her features.

"And you're nervous." It wasn't a question. Jane could tell without even needing to look at her.

"Yes. I wish you could be there with me. I don't really feel like confronting them alone."

"Confronting them? You're engaged! It should be a happy thing!"

"You don't know my parents."

"I'd like to."

Maura sighs. "Well, let's hope they share the same sentiments."

Jane patted Maura's hand. "You'll be fine. I'm sorry I can't go with you."

"Don't be. Though I thought there would be a much greater chance of them being happy for me if they met you first."

"Then why don't you just wait to tell them?"

"I told my mother I had some news that would bet best shared in person. I can't just not tell them now."

"You don't have to tell them it's me. Just say that you want them to meet me before you reveal my identity."

"That seems more suspicious than not." Maura said.

Jane shrugged. "Well you can always bring them by here."

"Unlikely. I doubt she would even consider it." She sighed once again, realizing she'll have to just face it when it comes. "But I'll keep it in mind."

Jane smiled and cupped Maura's face once again, looking deeply into her hazel eyes. "Whatever you do, you'll do great!" She placed a soft kiss upon her lips. "I believe in you."

Maura's eyes started to fill with tears again, thanks to the strong connection between her amygdala and her lacrimal gland. "No one's ever said that to me before. Thank you Jane." She returned the kiss with gusto. She didn't pull away until she heard a knock at the door.

A second later Jane's doctor walked in. He paused for a moment, assessing the situation, and realized he's seen much stranger things. It wasn't odd to see two women together – this was Boston, after all – but two grown women sharing a hospital bed was a different story.

"Jane?"

"Yes?" Said woman answered, keeping a grip on Maura who seemed to want to get off the bed at first sight of the doctor.

"We'll have to keep you here for a while – a week at minimum – but there didn't seem to be any permanent damage. After we release you, you'll have to take it easy for awhile after."

"Take it easy like how?"

"Well… you certainly can't go back to work unless you stick to your desk. No heavy lifting. I wouldn't even advise light lifting the first few days."

Jane glowered. "So basically I can't do anything? That's great…"

"And um…" he continued, unfazed by Jane's attitude, "you two should take things easy with the… you know." Even if the news of the adorable engaged couple wasn't spreading around the hospital, he saw the love in their eyes the moment he walked in.

Jane's face reddened slightly with a blush as she nodded.

He looked over her chart one last time before looking up at them. "So, any questions?"

They shook their heads, no pressing issues on their minds about Jane's recovery.

"Alright, just alert a nurse if you need anything." He said before exiting.

Angela took the opportunity of the doctor leaving to enter the room.

Jane rolled her eyes and groaned, wanting some alone time with the woman to whom she was newly affianced. "Ma! Can't I have just five minutes with Maura without you sticking your nose in here?"

Angela frowned at her daughter's attitude. "I let you have your time. You two had _more_ than five minutes when Maura first got here."

Jane sighed and muttered. "Whatever." She was irritated… and sore.

"Anyway, I came in here to talk about your wedding!"

Jane groaned. "Can we hold off on the wedding talk right now? It hasn't even been a day."

"Well excuse me for getting excited, Janey."

"I'm sorry, Ma. I'm just tired and it's been a long day."

"Then maybe I should go." Maura made a move to get off the bed. Jane caught her.

"No, wait, Maura. Stay for just a little while?"

Maura nodded, now sitting up on the edge of the bed.

"Fine, fine, _I'll _go." Angela said. "But I'll be back tomorrow." She waggled her pointer finger at the two in some sort of warning fashion before she stepped out of the room and closed the door.

As soon as she was out of the room Jane turned to Maura, even though it was slightly painful for her to do so. "Maura?"

"Jane?" She looked at her.

"Can you please stay with me tonight?" She asked in a tone of voice that was rare for the usually confident Rizzoli. It was full of insecurity with a hint of fear and a dash of hesitation. "I get that it's not the most comfortable of places but – "

Maura stopped her with a finger on her lips. "Of course, Jane. You don't even need to say anything." She simply replaced herself in the detective's arms and they laid there like that until they fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Maura awoke first, not having pain meds coursing through her veins that made it easier to ignore the discomfort brought on by the small space meant for only one occupant. She was confused at first as to her whereabouts but one look to her left made the previous day rush back to her memory and brought a smile to her face. She admired the DIY jewelry on her finger and sighed contentedly. Her life was never going to be the same – she knew that for sure – but she knew it could only be for the better.

With one last glance to the woman sleeping beside her she got out of bed and stretched, letting out a little groan as her muscles, taut and previously cramped, were stretched. She used the bathroom that was in Jane's private room before heading into the hallway to find some coffee.

After picking up some caffeine goodness she headed back to recovery and greeted Angela who had just shown up.

"Were you here all night?" She asked, already knowing the answer. Aside from the obvious clues – Maura was still wearing her clothes from yesterday – she looked tired, like she wasn't sleeping in a very comfortable spot.

Maura just nodded.

"Is Jane awake yet?"

"Not that I know of. When I left to get coffee she was asleep."

"Okay, good. Then do you think we can talk?"

"Of course." Maura said, somewhat surprised by the request. "May I ask what about?"

"Well first of all," she started as they began to walk to a more secluded part of the wing. "I wanted to make sure that you were all right. I know yesterday was really hectic and I never found out if you were injured during all of this."

Maura smiled. "I'm fine, Angela. Thank you for your concern."

"Good! Now about the wedding."

Maura let out a light laugh at her future mother-in-law's predictable behavior.

"You two don't worry about a thing, I'll take care of everything. My neighbor, Carrie, she owns a bakery and the De Luca's across the street have a daughter who does photography. And -"

Maura's face turned slightly horrified at the suggestion. "That's okay, Angela. I think we can handle it." She didn't even want to know what would happen if Angela Rizzoli had complete control over it.

Angela pouted. "But it's my only daughter's wedding. You're telling me I can't be a part of my only daughter's wedding?"

"Uh… well, I never said you couldn't help." Maura offered, unable to disappoint her. "But I would like last say over my own wedding." They sat down in a group of currently deserted chairs.

Angela frowned. The only good thing about having a daughter that didn't much care about this kind of stuff is the fact that, when she finally was married, she would be able to design the wedding herself. It's something she's always dreamed about. She didn't ever consider the fact that her daughter may marry someone like Maura. "Of course…"

Though Maura never dreamed about getting married like typical little girls, she did find the seemingly limitless possibilities of combinations of wardrobe, floral arrangement, and other décor enthralling. She never thought she would ever really get the chance and she most certainly wouldn't conceive of the possibility of marrying someone she was so much in love with. She just wanted the day to be perfect. "I would love to meet these people you have in mind." She offered, causing a grin to break out on Angela's face.

"Great! We can stop by the bakery later today and maybe talk to the De Luca's – "

"How about tomorrow?" Maura interrupted. "I have to meet with my parents today."

Angela noticed the hint of anxiety in Maura's voice. "You want company?"

"No. I shouldn't drag you into it."

"You wouldn't be. You're family, Maura. And family takes care of their own."

These words warmed her heart. It was funny that she knew the Rizzoli's for a little over a year yet she felt more at home with them than she ever had with her own family. "Thank you. But I should go alone." She checked the time and blanched. "And I should get going now. Tell Jane I'll come by later." She gave Angela a hug goodbye and headed off towards the exit.

The gears in Mama Rizzoli's head started to turn as she began to plan out the wedding, hoping that Maura would deem her own ideas to be acceptable. A few minutes passed and she got up and headed back to her hospitalized children.

XXXXX

Maura pulled up to her childhood house. It was large, as most mansions are, and was familiar but not necessarily in a good sense. She scanned the area, only seeing her mother's car present in the drive. She got out of her car and walked to the door slowly, rehearsing the words she's been playing through her mind all morning.

She rang the door bell and waited.

And waited.

And nervously waited.

Until finally, the door opened, revealing her mother.

"Hello Mother." Maura greeted.

"Maura, dear, come in." Constance Isles sidestepped, allowing her daughter to walk in. "Would you like some tea?"

"That would be lovely, thank you."

Constance nodded and motioned to her butler before sitting down. Maura followed, sitting across from her. They waited in silence for a few moments until the tea was brought over. They each took a sip before the elder Isles spoke.

"So, what is this news you can't tell me over the phone?"

"I'm engaged!" Giddiness was the overwhelming emotion but nervousness still seeped through.

Maura's mother seemed surprised at this news. She wasn't even aware of any boyfriends as of late. "E-sengaged?"

"Yes!" She held out her ring finger as proof without even thinking.

"What is this?" Constance asked when she leaned forward to inspect the item adorning her daughter's finger. It was most definitely not a ring.

"Oh, um… it's a twist tie."

"Maura, please don't tell me you're marrying someone who can't even afford a real ring."

"No… no. It was just – it was the only thing around. Kind of a spur of the moment thing but somehow… not."

"That makes no sense. If a man proposes, he should do so with a ring."

Maura gulped nervously. "Well… when you're in a hospital…"

"Hospital?"

"There was an incident at work… that's why my fiancée isn't here with me."

"Work?"

Maura nodded. "That's where we met. We work together." Maura felt like she couldn't drop the ball here. She just didn't feel it was the time. "But I'd like for you and Father to meet my fiancée. You two can come down to Boston Medical Center." She didn't know how long she would be able to keep on this thin line between truth and lie but she felt that if her parents met Jane that they would see what she does and not jump to conclusions right away.

"Of course we will. Your father won't be home until later, though. We can meet him tomorrow."

"Tomorrow sounds good." Maura said, figuring it best to get this over with as soon as possible.

"So I take it the proposal happened recently?" She asked after taking another sip.

"Yes. Yesterday, actually."

"And how long have you two been dating?"

"We… didn't date before the engagement."

"How is that possible?" She seemed confused.

Maura sighed, somewhat wistfully. "It just is. I don't know… it just feels right. Nothing in my life has made more sense than this."

Constance smiled at her daughter. "Well you seem to be happy so I am happy for you."

"I am _very _happy."

"Fantastic! I can't wait to spoil some grandchildren."

Maura rolled her eyes – internally, of course. The one thing her mother had in common with Angela…"Mother… you know I'm not really the maternal type."

"I was hoping you would change your mind about that eventually."

"It's not a matter of choice; it's a matter of personality." Maura said, knowing her mother knew this as well as she did.

Constance just sipped her tea, choosing not to say more on the subject.

"So how have things been going here?" Maura asked a moment later.

"Things have been well. I just got back from Paris a few days ago. I met with museum curators from Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Musee de Louvre, and the Petit Palais. It was a nice, brief trip. Your father just published another book."

Maura smiled and nodded. She could picture the buildings, and the artworks contained in them, with little trouble as she had been on trips with her parents to Paris several times in her youth.

They chatted about work and such for another hour before Constance needed to leave for a meeting.

XXXXX

Maura stopped off at Jane's apartment on her way back, remembering Jane's animals that needed to be tended to. She grabbed the spare key from under the welcome mat – typical Jane – and entered the space.

Joe Friday bounded up to her, barking. She had been left alone for over a day, poor thing.

After giving the dog her food, and cleaning up the expected messes, she gathered Joe's things and Watson's cage and brought them to her car. When she went back up she decided to also pick out a few of Jane's outfits, though it took her a lot of time because she was scoffing at Jane's wardrobe, vowing to get that fixed by the time they were wed. Eventually she and Joe, along with tiny Watson, made their way to Maura's house where they were dropped off. From there she made her way back to the hospital.

"Hey Angela… About tomorrow…" Maura said when she caught Angela coming out of Jane's room.

"I wanted to talk to you about that too. The shop's not open until next week – remodeling. So we'll have to go then."

Maura just smiled. "Sounds great."

"What were you going to say?"

"That my parents were coming to meet Jane and that we'd have to reschedule. But it seems we don't have to worry about that."

"They're coming? What time?"

"Uh… around noon."

"Well then I'll be sure me and Frank are here."

"Thank you. I would really appreciate it." Maura said. The more people she had on her side the better.

"You're family, Maura. Don't forget that." Angela said giving Maura a light hug before she went into her son's room.

Maura smiled and then turned to Jane's room. "Hey. I brought you something." Maura said right after she knocked on the open door.

"Oooh, a surprise?" Jane said with fake enthusiasm.

"Not exactly." She said, bringing Jane's overnight bag into her line of sight. "I figured you would want to wear something other than that hospital gown eventually."

"Thanks." She took the bag and peered inside, doing a double take at the bright colors. "Maura… what is this?"

"Well… I may have taken the liberty to stop off at a few stores on my way over here."

"You didn't, like, throw out _my _clothes did you?"

"Of course not, Jane. But we are going to have to do something about that."

"And what's wrong with the way I dress?"

"That would take too long. I think a better question is: what's right with the way you dress?"

Jane gave her a glare and tossed the bag on the floor. "So you're telling me you didn't fall for me because of my fashion sense?" She acted offended but couldn't quite keep a straight face.

"Jane, I fell in love with you despite your seemingly nonexistent sense of fashion."

"Thanks." She deadpanned. "But anyway, I heard your parents are coming tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"I promise I'll behave." She smiled innocently.

"It's not you I'm worried about…"

Jane took Maura's hand and massaged it soothingly with her thumb. "It'll be fine."

"I hope so."

"Come here." Jane said, motioning her head in a way to tell Maura she wanted her on the bed next to her.

Maura hopped on up and slid easily into the detective's embrace.

"Everything's gonna work out." Jane whispered, as her lips were mere inches away from Maura's ear.

They laid like that for quite awhile until there was a knock on the door. Maura hopped off the bed, not wanting to have an uncomfortable repeat of yesterday, and Jane yelled for them to come in.

The door opened to reveal Frost and Korsak, bearing flowers and a get well soon card signed by a good chunk of the station.

Frost had already heard about the engagement from Korsak and congratulated them.

They didn't stay for very long and so, after a few minutes of chatter, they left to give Frankie his card.

"Well that was nice of them."

"Yeah." Jane smiled, reading the various messages left by her coworkers. One of which said: 'You better get back by the time hallway soccer season starts!' After a moment she put it down and turned to Maura. "Okay, so what needs to be done first?"

"What do you mean?"

"To plan the wedding?"

"Oh, don't worry about that… I'll take care of it. It's much too stressful for you to do any of that right now."

"Maura, I want to. And besides, I think I'll be more stressed out knowing that you have complete control over our wedding." She laughed, joking, of course.

"It's not like we have to get everything done right now. We don't even have a date set yet. For all we know we could get married a year from now."

Jane frowned at that. "I sure hope not. I can't wait to call you my wife."

"Aww, Jane. That's sweet." She rewarded her with a kiss to the cheek. "But I know what you're thinking. We are not eloping."

"You know me so well."

"I try." Maura smiled. "And I should probably get going soon."

Jane frowned but nodded. "Just don't think too much about tomorrow. You need a good night's sleep."

"Thanks. I'll try." She bent down to kiss her and then left. After a farewell to Frankie she went home and tried – but failed – to not think about what was going to happen the next day.


	3. Chapter 3

Just before noon Maura met her parents outside of the hospital. She led them down the hallways and stopped in front of an open door, seeing Angela and Frank inside Frankie's room.

"Mother, Father, I'd like you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Rizzoli and their son Frankie."

"Hi! You can call me Angela!" She said excitedly, sticking her hand out towards Maura's mother.

"Frank." He repeated the action, though not as enthusiastically as his wife.

"Constance." She said, taking the woman's hand warily.

"David." He firmly gripped the man's hand and shook before doing the same with Angela.

"And this must be your fiancé!" Constance said, looking towards Frankie. "He is quite handsome!"

"Uh… no, Mother, he – "

"Poor dear, stuck in this hospital bed. It is really sweet, in a way, that you proposed in here but I do wish you would have had a ring. It just isn't seemly to go around with that _thing _on her – "

"Constance!" Angela interrupted forcefully.

Said woman stopped and looked at Angela expectantly.

"Frankie isn't Maura's fiancé."

"He isn't?"

"Of course not, my Ja –"

"Is across the hall." Maura interrupted as she started to shuffle her parents out.

Angela gave her a confused look but kept quiet, trusting her judgment.

Maura gave the door a slight knock before entering. When their eyes met they lit up despite the nervousness surrounding the situation.

"Maura?" Constance asked when she saw the bedridden woman. "What is this?"

"Mother, Father, this is Jane. My fiancée."

The elder Isles' faces were dumbstruck as they tried to make sense of the situation. A few agonizing minutes later David spoke.

"But… she's a woman."

"Yes, Father, she is."

"And you're a woman."

"That is correct."

"Maura, I thought we taught you better than this!" Constance said, shouting at her daughter.

"When? When I was home for breaks? Or maybe during the ten years of my life before I went to boarding school!"

"Maura, dear, that was entirely your choice and we accepted it wholeheartedly. But this…" She shook her head, not knowing what to say.

"We are very disappointed in you." David said. "And you are not going to marry this… this lowly _female _cop. We aren't going to let you embarrass this family."

Maura just ignored the barrage of insults directed towards her love. "Of course I'm going to marry her. I'd rather have her in my life than you two. She's more family than you have ever been."

"You don't mean that." Constance said, appalled.

Maura nodded. "I do. I'd rather have myself known as a Rizzoli than an Isles. I belong with them. They're my family."

"But they're poor."

"Maybe in money. But not where it counts."

"You'll regret this, Maura. You'll come to your senses soon. But until then just know that you're no longer part of this family. You can call us when you're no longer with _her_." David responded, spitting out the last word with disdain, before taking his wife's hand and walking out of the room.

As soon as they left Maura broke out in tears. Angela rushed to her side and pressed her against her shoulder and rubbed her back.

Jane never hated being confined to this bed as much as she did in this moment. Maura was _crying _and all she wanted to do was go to her and hold her. She also wanted to chase down the two that caused this and give them a piece of her mind but she knew that would do more harm than good.

"Oh, Maura honey, I'm sure they didn't mean it. It's just a surprise to them, that's all." Angela tried to console her.

The M.E. pulled away and shook her head. "No. They've always been like this. I expected it, I don't even know why I'm – I'm sorry, I just completely –"

"No need to apologize." Angela stated, cutting her off. "It's completely understandable."

She smiled at her future mother-in-law. "Thank you."

Angela gave her a small smile and then, sensing the need for it, left the two alone.

Maura went to Jane's bedside and sat down. She took hold of the scarred hand and started tracing patterns atop it, all the while looking into Jane's eyes. After what just happened, she desperately needed this simple comfort.

"I shouldn't have dragged my family problems here. I'm sorry. I just thought that if she met you she'd see how wonderful you are."

"I am great, aren't I?" Jane laughed. "But really, my mother was right – and you know how often I say that. You don't need to apologize."

Maura nodded and started to speak but their conversation was cut off by a knock on the door.

The nurse came in with a tray with some kind of soupy chunk in a bowl, bread, water and a pudding cup.

"There is no way I'm eating this." Jane said after glancing at the meal.

"You need to." The nurse said. "If you don't eat then we'll have to keep you here longer and nobody wants that."

Jane sighed and poked at the lumpy substance with her spork. While she attempted to get a few mouthfuls down, Maura got herself something from the cafeteria.

When she came back, Jane grumbled at what she saw. "How is that fair?"

"What?" She started to unwrap her sandwich.

"You get normal food."

"I also didn't shoot myself."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing."

"Jane."

"Fine, fine, we'll just eat. Maybe a little TV?" She asked, hopeful, as if Maura would say no.

"Go ahead."

Jane grabbed the remote and flicked through the channels, not much on except soap operas and game shows. She opted for the latter.

They sat together, eating and watching someone try to guess the price of an item. They didn't need to say or do anything. It was comfortable.

When they were finished eating, Maura joined Jane up there while they continued watching television. After a few more episodes of _The Price is Right_, Maura noticed the time and starts to get up. She was stopped by an arm.

"Stay here again tonight?" Jane asked, hope shining in her eyes. Part of her believed that Maura shouldn't be alone tonight anyway, given what happened just a few hours earlier.

"Sorry. I can't." She said regretfully. "I need to go home and feed Bass, Joe and Watson."

Jane nodded in understanding. "Alright, say hi to Joe and Watson for me. Fine, fine, Bass too." She said, last part in response to a look on Maura's face.

Maura smiled and bent down. "I'll see you tomorrow," she breathed onto awaiting lips before she kissed them. She walked to the door and through it, blowing Jane a kiss just before it closed.

The detective smiled at the closed door. A few minutes later the drugs took over her body and allowed her mind to surrender to sleep.

XXXXX

The weekend was filled with lengthy hospital visits – even one from Cavanaugh – and ongoing chatter about the wedding. When Monday rolled around, Jane was finally allowed out of the hospital.

A nurse wheeled her to Maura's car, parents and fiancée close behind.

"Now remember, Ms. Rizzoli, keep your activities to a minimum."

"Yeah, yeah." She waved her off. "Can I go now?"

"Yes. And don't hesitate to call if you have any questions."

"I have my own personal doctor that I'm sure will let me know what I need and how little I should move." She smiled towards Maura.

"Hopefully you'll move around as much as my _actual _patients." Maura said when the nurse walked away and they were in her car, waving goodbye to the Rizzoli parents who then went back inside to stay with Frankie.

"Was that you? Making a joke?" Jane laughed.

"Oh, don't sound so surprised, Jane. I'm not the same Maura you first met."

"Thank god for that."

Maura gave her a semi-questioning glare.

"What? I can't make jokes too?"

The M.E. let out a light laugh and looked back to the road. They continued to Maura's house in a comfortable silence.

Deciding it best for the time being, Maura made a few trips to and from the apartment to get Jane set up in her house. This way it was much easier to keep an eye on the detective.

Jane's next couple of days consisted mostly of eating whatever Maura whipped up – mostly to Jane's protest – and watching television. Only once did Maura decide to get the scrabble board out. She put it back, disheartened, after Jane had won with her 104 point word of 'goofball' after using the G from Maura's 'glyceraldehyde', getting a triple word score, and the bingo bonus. Fluke as it may have been, Maura felt a little put off by her defeat with such a word.

Their daily routines were interrupted by a visit from Jane's mother.

"The repairs are done on Carrie's bakery, so if you wanted we could go today." Angela said, walking into the house.

"Yes, today will work perfectly." Maura smiled.

"Ooh, cake! What time are we leaving?" Jane asked, eager to get out of the house and eat something unhealthy.

"You heard what the doctor said! You need to take it easy for a month. It hasn't even been a week!"

"It's just cake, Maura. You never heard the expression 'it's a piece of cake'? I'll be fine."

Maura thought for a moment before she conceded. "Alright. But if you feel even the slightest twinge of pain, you're coming home."

Jane nodded and stood up to join them out the door. A short car ride later they were at the bakery.

"Hello Angela, Jane. And you must be Maura." Carrie said, welcoming them into the shop. "You know, I was quite surprised to hear that you were getting married, Jane, considering how much I've heard from your mother about that department."

"Gee, thanks." She said, words directed mostly to her mother.

"I have a few cakes all ready for testing if you'd follow me." She led them into the back where a table was all set up and a few slices of different flavors of wedding cake were laid out.

They each tried every variety until they were content that they got a good idea of the flavors and textures unique to each one.

"Wow… this is _good_." Jane said, taking another bite of the chocolate.

"Yes it is rather yummy." She put down her fork and made a few notes. "We'll definitely keep these in mind, thank you." She said, directing her last statement to the owner.

"Maura? This isn't good enough for you?" Jane asked. "This is delicious!"

"Yes, I know. But we need to try more. I want to be careful. This wedding should be perfect."

"It'll be fine. But if it'll make you happy, I'll definitely try more cake with you." Jane smiled.

3 days and fifteen bakeries later, Jane had had enough.

"Can't we just serve them beer and say that's that?" She had lost count of which piece of cake this was. She was sure it was well over a hundred by now.

Maura put down her fork and glared at her.

"What?"

"It's like you don't even care about this wedding!"

Jane looks at Maura and puts down her fork before holding her hands. "Oh, honey, I do care. I just think that we don't need to make it fancy for people to know that I love you."

Maura's eyes misted over. "Awww. I love you too." She said before leaning in for a chocolate sweetened kiss.

"Maura's right, Janey." Angela said, pointing her fork at her daughter. "The cake is the thing people look forward to the most and is most remembered. Finding the perfect one is important."

"Fine. But how about we decide from the one's we've already tried? There were some good ones."

The three decided to come to a consensus about the cake over dinner at a nearby diner, where they also discussed what they wanted in a venue.

"Well it's got to be big." Angela said. "This is a Rizzoli wedding, after all."

"Ma," Jane grumbled. "You didn't intend on having _everyone _there, did you?"

"Of course I did. You're getting married, Janey. I want the whole family to be there."

Jane sighed. That meant a guest list that went well into the hundreds full of people she's never even met before. Oh well, if it made her mother happy, she would deal with it.

"What about you, Jane? What do you want the location to have?" Maura asked.

She shrugged. "An open bar?"

"I hope you're kidding. We're not having a bar, only wine."

"Maura… trust me, we'll need a bar." Jane said.

Angela nodded in agreement.

Maura sighed. "Fine."

"Anything else?"

"As long as you're there, I'll be fine." Jane said sweetly.

Maura smiled at her before taking a sip of water.

"So, we're for sure going with Carrie's cake?" Angela asked as she finished up her BLT.

"Yep." Maura nodded.

"Great. So I'll take care of that later today."

"Thanks, Ma." Jane said.

They paid the check and then left, enjoying casual conversation all the way back to their cars. Angela made a quick stop off at her neighbor's house before going home, while Maura and Jane went straight to Maura's house.

After making sure the tortoises had their food, and taking Joe out for a walk, they sat down on the couch to unwind.

A few minutes in, Maura was looking at her ring, thinking about the moment her life changed forever.

"Jane, do you know why engagement and wedding rings are worn on this finger?"

"No. But something tells me that you do."

"Of course. You see," she shifted she could touch Jane's ring finger, "In Ancient Egypt it was commonly believed, before modern science proved otherwise, that there was a vein running directly from here to here." She moved her finger to travel up Jane's arm and across to her heart. "it was dubbed 'vena amoris' – Latin for 'vein of love' – by the Romans, though the earliest known mention of the phrase is in a 1686 book by Henry Swineburne titled – "

"Okay, Maura, I think I get it." Jane said, a little afraid of how long that could go on.

The M.E. shut her lips and sighed.

"I'm sorry. It's just sometimes you don't know when to stop. I didn't want it to go on all night." She laughed lightly, putting her arm around Maura and pulling her in closer.

"We should probably get to bed." Maura suggested a few minutes later, getting all too comfortable in that position. "I might just fall asleep like this."

Jane smiled but pushed Maura to the side so she could get up, almost causing the M.E. to take a tumble off the couch.

"Hey!" Maura protested as she followed Jane into her room.

Jane laughed and shut the door.


	4. Chapter 4

The next couple of days consisted of Maura and Angela dragging Jane to various possible wedding sites, despite her very vocal protesting. She didn't mind going with them but multiple places a day was getting very taxing on her and her still healing body.

By the end of the weekend, Frankie was allowed out of the hospital and, of course, Angela decided to make a special dinner to celebrate both Frankie and Jane's well-being.

As they were all chatting in the living room, the doorbell rang. Jane went to answer it.

"I heard that you an' Frankie were outta the hospital!" A man, who shared many physical characteristics with Jane, said when the door opened.

"Tommy!" Angela wasn't sure if she was going to pass out or not but she grabbed the nearest person – Frank – just in case. "What are you doing here?"

"What? I got out of jail. I didn't bust out or nuthin'."

"She knows that. But you didn't seem to want to see us then. What changed this time?" Jane responded.

"What? Can't I see for myself that my bro an' sis are okay? And besides that, I heard my big sis is gettin' married. And you know me, I can't pass up a good party!" He walked in and took a seat on the couch, propping his mud-encrusted shoes on the coffee table.

"Who said you're even invited?" Jane asked, raising an eyebrow at her younger brother's attitude.

"C'mon, Janey. I'm family! Course I'm invited!" He sat up suddenly, taking notice of the warm and pleasant smell emanating from the kitchen. "What's for dinner?" He clapped his hands and rubbed them together in anticipation.

"Gnocchi." Angela said curtly before going back in the kitchen. It was not exactly the homecoming she was dreaming of.

"Ahh, I've definitely missed that!" He stood up and started to follow her but stopped at the new face. "You must be Jane's fiancée. Myra, right?"

"Maura." She corrected.

"Right. Nice to meetcha." He said rather unenthusiastically before going into the dining room and taking a seat in his old spot – Maura's current one.

"Tommy, find another seat." Frank said.

"Whaddaya mean? This is my seat!" He said defensively.

"Not anymore. Set a plate somewhere else."

"It's fine. He can sit there." Maura tried to say.

"Nonsense. That's your seat now, Maura. Sit."

Maura complied, feeling as though she was intruding in something that was a family issue. It hasn't quite sunk in that Rizzoli family matters were now her matters.

Tommy grumbled as he got a whole new set of dishes and sat down at a free spot.

Everyone else sat down and Angela brought out the food. She filled everyone's plates and then took her own seat.

"So," Frank started after he took a few bites, "how long are you planning to stay _this _time?"

Tommy shrugged. "Dunno. A while I guess. Still got my room made up?"

Angela nodded. "Of course."

"But we think it would be best if you looked for somewhere else to stay."

"Frank!" Angela protested.

"He's got to learn to stand on his own two feet. Otherwise he'll just end up back in prison." He said and then he turned to Tommy. "We'll give you a week but no more than that."

"Aw, thanks Pop." He said, not really having any intention of looking for a job or other place to live. He'd just do what he always did: leach off his parents and hang out with his friends.

Frank nodded. "One week." He warned again.

"So how's the place hunt goin'?" Frankie asked, trying to break up the tension in the room, not knowing that he was just adding to it.

Jane let out an aggravated sigh, clearly not wanting to have this conversation right now.

"I think it's going well." Angela said. "Yesterday we saw two good places. You liked them, right Maura?"

Said girl nodded. "They were nice, but not spectacular."

Jane grumbled. "If you're looking for perfect then we're never gonna get married."

Maura gave Jane a glare but could understand her point of view.

"You'll find it." Frankie said, sure of it. "I'll even help you guys if you want."

"I think one grumpy Rizzoli is enough. You should stay here and rest." Maura said, causing Jane to mumble something under her breath. "What was that, Jane?"

"Nothing." She said into her food. "Just I thought the first place was fine. Seven places later and we've got nothing…" You could hear the irritation simmering in her tone.

"Whoa, what happened to this 'happy couple' I heard about?" Tommy asked.

"Oh, they're just bickering." Angela responded. "Planning a wedding puts a lot of stress on a couple."

Jane continued to silently brood as she ate.

"So, uh… what happened?" Tommy asked a few minutes later, scooping up a few of the savory dumplings. "Why were you guys in the hospital anyway?"

Frankie spoke up when it seemed like no one else was going to answer. "This guy that was supposedly on our side decided to take over the station. I was wearing a vest when one of his cronies shot me and I started to bleed internally. An' Jane," he shook his head still not believing what he had heard. "I didn't see it but she shot herself to shoot the guy. Not totally sure how but… how did that happen exactly, Jane?"

"He dragged me out as a shield. I twisted the gun away from him and couldn't find an opening so I had to shoot him through me."

"What? That's insane! What were you thinking!" For the first time in a long while he was actually concerned about someone other than himself.

She shrugged. "It's my job. If I didn't do something, he would have gotten away and probably would've hurt someone else."

"Wow." He was dumbfounded. Why anyone would do something so selfless, he couldn't comprehend. But learning that two of his siblings were so close to being killed trying to stop some guy really made him think. It also made him gain a whole new level of respect for them.

"See, this is why I didn't want you two to do such dangerous work!" Angela piped in. "I told you that something like that would happen, but did you believe me?"

"Ma…" Jane voiced, not wanting to have this conversation for the thousandth time.

Angela sighed and then poked at her food.

"So what's on your plate, bro?" Tommy asked.

"Uh… gnocchi." He said, confused, pointing to the same meal that they were all eating.

"No I mean – surely Ma's given you a job to do with this wedding."

"Oh, uh… no, she hasn't. I've just been stayin' here. Doctor's orders."

Tommy nodded his head. Looks like he'd have someone to hang out with for a while as he stuck around and did nothing. Though the thought of finding a job and turning his life around now nagged at his mind.

"You know, I still can't fully believe you're getting married." Angela said. "But it's so great; I've always wanted a daughter!"

Jane gave her mother a glare.

"Oh, you know what I mean: a girl."

"And what am I? A duck?"

Maura and the boys laughed at the exchange.

"I can hardly believe it either." Maura confessed a moment later. "I always thought I was the type of person who would never get married. Guess I never found the right person before."

"What I can't believe," Jane started, "Is that you would say 'yes' when we never dated."

"Oh, but we have. Maybe not conventionally but I think we've spent more time together than traditional couples, though not in any romantic sense."

"Huh." Jane never thought of it that way. With all the work and free time spent together, they have been around each other a lot since they've met. "I guess you're right." Though now she was enjoying the more coupley stuff and was looking forward to more as the days went on.

Soon, they all finished eating and went into the living room. Maura sat and chatted with Angela while Frank had a word with his newly reappeared son.

"Frankie," Jane walked up to her brother. "Listen… will you – " She paused. It sounded weird in her head but she didn't know of any other way to phrase it. "Will you be my maid of honor?"

"What?" He looked at her like she just asked him to juggle sauerkraut.

"I know you're my brother but you're also my oldest friend. We both know that if I was marrying someone else then Maura would be it but I'm not. So what do you say?"

He made a few facial expressions as he let the thought roll around in his mind before finally grinning up at her. "I won't have to wear a dress will I?"

She shrugged, keeping her smile at bay. "That's up to Ma."

His face became horrified. "J- Jane? You're kidding, right?" His heart sunk when she didn't say anything else and there wasn't even a hint of anything but seriousness on her face.

It took a few seconds for Jane's resolve to break and she spluttered out a laugh, which caused the other occupants in the room to look up at her for a moment. "Really? You think Ma would make you wear a dress?"

"Well…. no!" He tried to save it. "I was just testing you!"

"Right…" She wasn't convinced. "So anyway, that's a yes?"

"Of course! I have no idea what I'm supposed to do but I'm happy to do it!"

"All you have to do is stand up there with me. You don't need to throw a shower or help with the planning. Ma's got all that taken care of."

"Good thing! I'd probably ruin the whole thing!" He laughed.

The detective laughed along with him and caught a glimpse of Maura and Angela's interaction. She had this odd sort of warm comfort spread throughout her and she just felt incredibly blissful.

"Jane?" Frankie asked, noticing that her mind was elsewhere.

She turned back to him. "Sorry. Just had one of those 'is this real?' moments."

He nodded, understanding completely. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I can finally stop hearin' from Ma about how you need to get married. Though I guess that means she'll move on to me."

Jane laughed. "Yeah. But more likely she'll start on about grandkids."

"I sure hope so, for my sake!" He laughed at the glare she gave him.

Jane was going to make another comment but noticed Maura walking their way.

"I think it's almost about time we went home." Maura said to Jane after noticing the time.

Jane agreed wholeheartedly, feeling unusually tired for this hour despite her current good mood.

After a round of goodbyes, Maura and Jane headed out. Frankie was exhausted and decided to head to his old room. Tommy, not wanting to be alone in a room with his parents at the moment, went to bed as well.

"Oh, it's so nice to have two of the kids back home, isn't it?" Angela smiled up at Frank.

"Maybe if it was Jane instead of Tommy. I'm still not sure about letting him stay here."

"He's your son!" Angela was shocked he would even consider kicking him out.

"That doesn't excuse what he's done."

"Can't you just give him one more chance?"

"What do you think I'm doing? If I wasn't giving him a chance he'd be out on the street."

Angela sighed. She knew he was right but, still. Tommy was her baby and she couldn't just abandon him.

Frank kissed her on her head – showing her he would go along with her for now – and, after helping his wife with the dishes, he locked up and they headed to their room.

The next morning, after finishing his breakfast, Tommy picked up the newspaper. After chuckling to himself because of a few comics – oh, that Marmaduke – he took a look at the classifieds. Caretaker? Right… like anyone would let someone like him into their home. Sales? He wasn't a big people person. Mechanic? He's never fixed anything in his life. Bartender? It was tempting but he was trying to stay away from alcohol. By the end of his search he had a few things circled that he thought he would give a shot.

He couldn't get to too many places at the moment, as he had lost his license and couldn't even afford bus fare, so he decided to walk to a nearby restaurant.

After answering why he had been out of the job market for so long he was practically laughed out of the building. This was going to be harder than he thought.

XXXXX

A few minutes into the tour of a venue, Jane saw Maura's displeased look and sighed.

"So the room is looking out to the street, not the water?" Maura frowned, undoubtedly already crossing the location off the list in her mind. From what they've seen of it so far, Jane had thought it was pretty nice.

"God, Maura, does it really matter!" Jane yelled in frustration. "People aren't going to be looking outside, they're gonna be looking at us!"

"It's all about the atmosphere, Jane. It won't be the same without it. The harbor will be the perfect backdrop for a Boston wedding."

"I'll give you a perfect backdrop." Jane mumbled, cracking her knuckles when Maura turned around.

"Did you say something?" Maura asked, turning to face Jane again.

"Are we almost done here?"

"You know, you can go home!" Her voice was nearly at a yell. She was getting tired of Jane's irritable behavior and she felt the comings on of a headache.

"Fine! You're the one that wanted me here in the first place." She moved towards the exit.

"Jane."

She stopped and waited.

"One more place?"

"Fine, but tomorrow. Let's go." She didn't even wait for Maura to follow before she left the room and headed for the car.

Maura took a moment to let the facility director know that they wouldn't be using this space. She walked outside and saw Jane standing by her car. As soon as she got close enough, she pressed the button to unlock the door and Jane opened the door and sat down.

Maura joined her but didn't start the car.

"If you don't like what you see tomorrow, you're gonna have to pick one we've already seen." Jane warned. She didn't dare look at Maura, instead she focused on the scars on her hands.

Silence bathed the vehicle for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry."

Jane's head bolted up as she looked at her fiancée in confusion. "Why are _you _sorry? I'm the one who's being a jerk."

"But you wouldn't be if it wasn't for me. I wanted you to be a part of this so much that I didn't think about what you wanted. And here I am supposed to be making sure you don't do too much and I'm pushing you to doing all this moving around."

"You're not pushing me. I have free will, you know."

"Yes, but I'm guilting you."

"Maybe a little." She conceded.

"And I just assumed that, because you were fine to test cake, you would be okay to look at venues."

"I told you, Maura, I'm fine."

"You're not in any pain are you?"

"I'm a little sore but not much more than I would be just doing nothing."

"Okay." She nodded, not thoroughly convinced.

Jane leaned over to give the M.E. a hug – having to twist her body to do so – to show her that everything was okay. And perhaps it was in an emotional sense.

"What is that?" Maura pulled away, feeling a slight dampness on Jane's side. Her heart dropped when she saw a red liquid starting to stain Jane's shirt. "Oh my god! We need to get you back to the hospital!"

"I think it just opened up when I hugged you. I don't think we need to go all the way back there. Your place is closer."

"Y-you want _me_ to fix it?" Her tone was incredulous.

"Yeah… you went to medical school, didn't you?"

"But I haven't had a live patient since Frankie… and you know how well that went." She started the car.

"Maura, please? I really don't feel like getting lectured at by the scary nurse."

Maura could barely stifle her knowing laugh. "Fine. But if I notice that it's more than I should attempt, I'm taking you back."

"Deal."

They made their way back to Maura's home. Jane was rushed inside and made to lie down on the couch.

Maura carefully peeled off Jane's shirt and sighed in relief. It wasn't as bad as she had thought. A few stitches had popped open – something easily repaired.

She grabbed her suture kit and got to work. In a short couple of minutes she was done and Jane was all re-stitched up. She sat up slowly, wincing slightly.

"Maybe you should stay there." Maura suggested.

"I was planning on it. I just don't really feel like laying down." She said, getting comfortable. Joe Friday jumped up and got settled on her lap.

After being reassured that she was okay, Maura joined them, getting settled into Jane's good side.

"Where's Bass?" The detective asked when she realized she hadn't seen the reptile in a while.

"Pouting."

Jane couldn't help but crack an amused grin. "Pou-pouting?"

Maura nodded, as if it was totally normal that a tortoise would act like a toddler. "I don't think he likes sharing the space with you and Joe."

"I know the feeling."

"Jane! He's just a tortoise!"

"Who hates me! I'm not sure how animals can harbor grudges but he sure has. I don't even know what I did to make him like that!"

Maura laughed. "I understand your aversion to snakes but that shouldn't apply to other reptiles."

"It's not all reptiles, Maura. It's him."

Maura thought for a moment. "I think you should spend more time with him." She said definitively.

"Doing what? Playing fetch?"

"Just talk to him, Jane. He's a good listener and I think it's an excellent bonding opportunity."

Jane just stayed silent. She thought the idea was ridiculous but didn't want to start an argument over something so stupid.

Instead, they spent the next few hours relaxing – with an occasional kiss or two – until it was time for bed.

XXXXX

A/N: Happy birthday, Mom! :D


	5. Chapter 5

"So, where are we going today?" Jane asked.

"_We_ are not going anywhere,_ you _are staying here. We're not going to have a repeat of yesterday. Unless, of course, you'd like to stay with Frankie at your mother's house."

"No, here's fine." She said, turning on a _Cops_ marathon.

"Okay. And if you need anything I have my cell phone."

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Mother." Jane said rolling her eyes in a playful manner.

Maura let out a small laugh and leaned over to place a kiss atop Jane's head.

"I'll be home in a few hours."

"Have fun!" She weakly sing-songed as the door was closing.

From there, Maura went straight to a café to meet with Angela for lunch.

"So, when were you two thinking of having an engagement party?" The older woman asked when they found a table.

"We haven't really thought of it, actually."

"Well I have!"

Maura wasn't surprised.

"I was thinking we could have something small at our house."

The M.E. considered the thought for a moment. "That sounds like a good idea."

"Great! I'll take care of everything!"

She opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it. She couldn't think of a reasonable reason why she shouldn't allow it. "Alright. I'm looking forward to it."

They finished up their meals as they discussed a guest list for both that and the wedding. After they were done the two went to the last option for their venue. As soon as Maura stepped foot inside, she knew. It was perfect. Angela thought the same.

"So when's the earliest you have an availability?" She asked as soon as the tour was over.

"January. It's not a very busy month for weddings. But next June's all booked up if that's what you were wondering."

Maura shook her head. "January sounds lovely. Can we look at some dates?"

He nodded and motioned his hands. "Certainly. Follow me." He led them into his office where they agreed on a date.

They discussed a few more details and sampled some menu items but didn't want to settle on anything until Jane was better.

Maura couldn't wait to get home and share the good news. When she finally pulled into the driveway she all but skipped through the door. "Jane, Jane!"

Said woman startled awake. "Maura? What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's perfect!"

Jane wiped the sleep from her eyes and blinked up at her exuberant fiancée. "What?"

"There are these walls of windows that look right out onto the bay!" Maura described animatedly. "And the hotel takes care of the flowers, décor, food, and a suite the night of the wedding."

"Sounds awesome." Jane smiled, happy that the epic location hunt was now over.

"And we have a date!"

"Yeah? When?"

"January 7th."

Jane's eyes widened. "January? But that's so soon!"

"Don't worry, Jane, it's doable."

"I'm not worried about doable, I'm worried about survival. If we were bickering before, I don't want to know what will happen now that we only have 3 months left."

"Yes, but we have your mother on our side. Not to mention the fact we have some things taken care of already. Like the cake."

Jane sighed. "I hope you're right."

Maura took a seat next to her. "Just trust me on this. And before I forget, your mother is going to be taking care of our engagement party."

"And you're letting her?"

"Why not? It's just one less thing to worry about."

Jane laughed. "Did you _just _meet my mother?"

"I think it's a good idea." She responded. "She may be a little… much… but she has our best interest at heart."

"Alright." She grabbed Maura's hand and started playing with her fingers. "I trust you. And I want to say now that even if I get really irritable about this whole thing that I love you and don't really mean whatever I say."

"I've figured as much already."

"Good. _And _I have a proposal."

Maura was intrigued. "Yes?"

"Whenever emotions run high and we're ready to just go at it with each other, we should take a few minutes alone and remember _this_." She leaned forward and kissed Maura's lips gently.

"I wholeheartedly agree." The M.E. said when they pulled away. She pressed her lips against Jane's once again and sighed in happiness.

"Lay with me?" Jane asked a moment later, reclining back and opening her arms to welcome the other woman in.

Maura smiled and lied down, careful of Jane's still healing side. She let Jane's arms wrap around her and just relaxed into the embrace.

They stayed in that position, Jane making small circles on Maura's stomach with her fingers, for several minutes.

Maura turned slightly to gain access to Jane's lips. The kiss was languid and lasted for several minutes. They just reveled in the sensations created by the slow movements of lips and tongues pressing against one another.

"Mmm." Jane pulled away. "How did I ever live without this?"

"I don't know. It is rather habit forming." She smiled, going in for another one.

"I better be careful or I might get addicted." She said jokingly just before she took Maura's bottom lip between her own. She sucked on it gently, coaxing a moan out of the hazel-eyed beauty.

Maura pulled back, breathless. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply for a few seconds as if trying to fight something.

"Maura?" Jane asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"

She opened her eyes and smiled. "I just – I don't want to get too carried away."

Jane laughed. "You're not telling me that you want to wait until our wedding night, are you? Cause I know you're not a – "

"I don't. But you know we can't." Maura said, looking down at Jane's side.

"I told you, I'm fine. See?" She lifted up her shirt part way to prove it.

Maura pushed her hand, and effectively her shirt, back down. "You said that yesterday, remember? And I had to stitch you up?"

Jane knew Maura was right. "But we can still make out, right?"

Maura laughed. "Of course. To an extent."

Jane laid back down and opened her arms. "Well then, what are we waiting for?"

Maura's eyebrow lifted up as she gave her love a once-over. She reached out and grabbed one of the arms and tugged her up. "How about we sit up?"

"Fine, have it your way, but I'm not going to enjoy it." Jane said, smile upon her face, clearly teasing.

"Oh really now? In that case…" She made a move to get up.

Jane pulled her back down. "Just shut up and kiss me, Isles."

Maura happily did as she was told. After a moment she pulled away and smiled. "Still not enjoying it?"

"Not one bit." She responded with a straight face.

Maura leaned over and kissed her again, this time getting her tongue to join in on the action. "How about now?"

"I've had better." She said, now slightly breathless.

Maura's face took on a look half of amusement and half of challenge acceptance. Her hand reached up to push away a stray hair away before cupping Jane's face. She leaned in but didn't allow her lips to make contact. She was dangerously close but stayed there, breathing lightly onto the other woman's mouth.

After a few agonizing moments, the temptation became too much. Jane pushed forward, connecting their lips but only for a slight moment, as Maura pulled away quickly.

"Hey!" Jane protested.

"What?" A coy smile appeared on the M.E.'s face as she made a move to get up.

"Not so fast, Isles!" Jane grabbed her arm and yanked her down into her arms and right into a kiss.

The contact caught Maura slightly off-guard and she let out a small moan. She didn't even attempt to get up again now. She just shifted into a more comfortable position and melted into the kiss.

As time went on their kisses became increasingly passionate. All thoughts of Jane's injury left both of their minds as their activities progressed.

While Jane's tongue was busy exploring Maura's mouth, her hands were caressing the clothed mounds of the other woman's chest.

Maura's hands, meanwhile, were working their way under a white shirt. They stilled when she felt raised skin that served as a warning of what might happen if they were to continue. Regrettably, she sat up. "I think we should stop."

For a moment, Jane was confused. She frowned at the idea but soon conceded, remembering why it would be a good idea. "Yeah. I'm getting kinda tired anyway." She grumbled.

The M.E. nodded in agreement. "But if I'm going to be sleeping next to you, I'm going to need a cold shower first." She winked and then placed a kiss on her cheek before getting up and walking towards the bathroom.

Jane watched her leave with a sigh. She was amazingly lucky to have such a woman in her life and even more so to be marrying her. As she headed to bed, she wondered what warranted such fantastic fortune.

By the time Maura got out of the shower, Jane was already fast asleep in her bed. She smiled at the serene look on her face and then climbed into bed next to her.

XXXXX

They were lying in bed just after waking up. There wasn't really anything pressing for today so they just took advantage of their precious free time as much they could. And while they knew they had a wedding in a few short months, they just wanted to stay there and enjoy each other's company.

"Jane," Maura started hesitantly, moving her toes against Jane's.

"Yeah?"

"How would you feel about moving in here… permanently?" Her worry lessened when she saw Jane's face light up.

"That sounds amazing. And here I was worried about when I would have to go back home."

"You'll have to go back eventually," Maura reasons, "unless you want to buy all new things."

"Not what I meant, smartie-pants."

"I know." She leaned up and kissed Jane on the cheek. "So when is your lease up?"

"Not for another month or so." She shrugged. "No biggie, I can pay it and stay here. I'll just have to go talk to them soon and not renew my lease."

"Then we can move you in here slowly." She smiled at the thought. "But you shouldn't do much, you're supposed to be resting still, remember?"

"I'm fine." Jane insisted.

"Well I want you to stay that way."

"Jeez, you're starting to sound like my mother. Next thing I know, you'll be wanting me to quit my job."

"Now there's an idea…" Maura tapped her chin.

"Maura." Jane warned, even though she knew the M.E. was joking. Or rather, she hoped she was joking.

The hazel eyed woman just smiled and placed a kiss on Jane's lips before settling in closer. They laid there for awhile but, before Maura could be lulled back asleep by the gentle beat of the heart that now belonged to her, her phone rang.

"Dr. Isles." She said when Jane handed her the phone. "Yes. I'll be right there."

Jane frowned when Maura got up. "Where are you going?"

"Work." She said, starting to get dressed.

"A murder?" She half expected her own phone to ring even though she was still on leave.

Maura shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that someone's dead and they don't know what caused it."

Jane got up and stilled Maura's hands, currently busy buttoning up her blouse. "I'm gonna miss you."

She laughed. "Jane, I'm only going to be gone a few hours."

"So?" She smiled and wrapped her arms around her waist to draw her in closer. "Can't I miss you?"

"There's no real reason to. We won't be apart for very long." She smiled when she saw the forlorn look on her love's face. "But to be honest, I'll miss you too."

"Really?" Jane smiled up at her.

"Of course."

The detective rewarded that with a kiss before buttoning up the rest of Maura's shirt. She gave her another kiss before heading to the door. "I don't know about you but I'm starving. Want some breakfast before you go?"

Maura followed her out and into the kitchen. "No. I should be leaving soon." She went to the fridge anyway to get Bass his food.

She looked up and saw Jane scowling at him. "Just try to talk to him?" She urged before giving her one last kiss and heading for the door. "I'll be back as soon as I'm done."

The door closed. Jane looked towards Bass and let out a small laugh. "Talk to a turtle… yeah right."

She spent the day surfing the web and watching television, able but not really willing to do much else. A few episodes of _Family Feud _in she looked over at the reptile that was chewing on a piece of lettuce. She sighed and got up. She crouched down next to him."Okay, look, scale-face. I don't like you and you don't like me but it looks like we're gonna be living in the same house."

Bass looked up, still chewing, and glared at her. Here he was trying to eat and she just walked up and interrupted him. At least the dog had enough common sense to leave him be.

"So let's just stay out of each other's way. Maura loves both of us but, let's face it, she loves me more."

That struck a nerve. The piece of lettuce dropped from his mouth as his head lunged forward and his jaws snapped closed around Jane's finger.

"Ow! You son of a – " She pulled her hand back and jumped up before pulling her foot back for a kick. She thought better of it, however, and just went to the sink. She scrubbed the wound furiously, hoping she didn't contract some horrible disease. "If I die from a damn turtle bite, I swear I'll make you into soup."

Bass snickered before continuing with his meal, looking up occasionally to be sure Jane wasn't after revenge.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, at the Rizzoli household, Tommy was lying on his bed. He had just gotten back from an interview and had to wait for them to call back. His mind, however, was far from that. Instead, it focused on something that he tried every day of his life to forget. That is, until a knock interrupted him from his dark thoughts.

"Tommy! Can I talk to you?"

"Sure. C'mon in!" He sat up and waited for him to walk in.

Frankie sat down next to his brother on the bed. "What are you doin' here?" His tone was somewhat accusatory.

"What do you mean?"

"I know you, Tommy. I don't want you to get Ma's hopes up again just to crush them."

Tommy nodded, knowing how much he had hurt his family in the past. He was doing everything he could now to get away from it but he was finding it to be difficult. "I'm sorry, bro. Really."

Frankie looked over at him and could feel the sincerity. It was something he was sure he had never heard from the other man. "I just don't understand why. I mean, it's not like you were raised like that. Me an' Jane turned out fine." He wasn't speaking harshly or with any intent of blame. He was just curious and wanted to understand his brother.

Tommy's gaze broke away from Frankie and shifted to the ground. "I… I think I know why. But I don't wanna talk about it."

Noticing the grave tone in his voice, Frankie's heart dropped. He wanted to know more but respected his brother's wishes. "Alright… but if you do, you can talk to me."

"Thanks." He was still looking at the ground.

An uncomfortable silence passed over them so Frankie got up. "Well, I'm gonna go…" He pointed to the door but didn't move, waiting to see if Tommy was going to say anything else. When he was met with nothing but silence, he left. The conversation, short as it may have been, weighed heavily on his mind.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hi Jane. How was your day?" Maura asked when she walked through the door and saw the detective on the computer.

"Your stupid turtle tried to kill me." She grumbled, still searching for any possible dangers associated with a tortoise bite.

She ignored the slip-up. "Let me guess… you tripped over him? I hope you didn't damage his shell."

"I didn't trip over him, he _bit _me." She stuck out her bandaged finger as proof.

Maura held the hand and unbandaged the finger to inspect it. "You're fine. It's no worse than a paper cut."

"I'm not worried about the cut. Won't I get salmonella or something?"

"That's unlikely. Of course, I'm assuming you washed your hands right after."

"Wow, look at you! Assuming! Next thing I know, we'll get called to a crime scene and you'll call something blood without getting it tested."

Maura just gave her a look.

"So wait… you're telling me it is still possible?"

"I'll keep an eye on you. But if it makes you feel better I'll take a blood sample down to the lab for testing."

"A needle? No thanks, I'll take my chances. But you know, they put down dogs for attacking humans. I think they should do the same with turtles."

"Tortoise, Jane. And I'm sure you were doing something to provoke him."

"Why are you so quick to take his side?" She could have sworn that she just saw Bass give her a smug look at that moment.

"Because he can't defend himself."

"Um, I think _this _is proof that he can!" She exclaimed, holding up her finger.

"I meant verbally."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Look, I was just trying to talk to him like you said and he bit me."

"Y-you actually tried to?" Maura was dumbfounded. She thought it was a hopeless thing she was suggesting and didn't actually believe she would do it.

"Yeah… you sound surprised."

"I am. I didn't think you would. I mean, why – "

"Because it was important to you." She shrugged. "But I hope you don't want me to try again."

Maura shook her head. "Of course not." She walked over to Jane and placed a kiss on her lips before staring deeply into her eyes. "But thank you for trying."

Jane smiled back and all murderous thoughts directed at a nearby reptile vanished from her mind. "Anything for you."

"Anything?" Mischievousness sparkled in her eyes.

Jane's smile slowly disappeared. "Uh… well… I mean…"

"Relax, I'm only kidding."

"When you invent the time machine, remind me to go into the past and stop you from figuring out how to do that."

Maura laughed. "Jane, if I ever invented a time machine I would go back and tell myself to kiss that sexy detective who walked into my lab over a year ago."

"Crowe?" She asked, teasingly, recalling that he started in homicide around the same time she did.

"No, silly! You!"

Jane just laughed and walked over to Maura. She placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "You know, I did miss you."

Maura smiled. "Me too. But I think there may be a remedy for that."

"Oh, really? Well then, doctor, what is it?"

"This." She leaned forward and took Jane's lips with her own. They stood there, kissing, for quite some time until they needed to pull away for air.

"Wow." Jane had to say. "I definitely don't want to ever go a day without one of those."

"Agreed." Maura smiled.

They sat down on the sofa and Joe Friday immediately jumped up between them, wanting attention. Maura smiled and patted the dog while Jane rolled her eyes. After a few minutes she was satisfied and curled up on Jane's lap.

After stroking her dog's fur in silence for a few moments, Jane spoke up. "So I know you probably don't want to talk about this but I'm curious. What's the rest of your family like?"

Maura shrugged. "I don't really know. My parents haven't kept in touch with anyone else so I never really had much contact with them. Except for my cousin Stacey. We email back and forth quite a bit."

"But you don't ever see her?"

"No. Her family moved to Florida when we were younger. I haven't seen very much of her in a while."

The detective frowned at that. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm just thankful I had her in my life at all. Otherwise my childhood would have been even lonelier."

"You know what? Forget what I said before. When you invent the time machine, I'm gonna go into the past and introduce little Maura to little Jane."

The M.E. let out a laugh. "Good plan. I'm sure little Maura would appreciate it."

The next few days consisted of Jane continuing her rest at home and of Maura and Angela scouring the city for various wedding details needed to be tended to. Meanwhile, Tommy Rizzoli, after getting the good news that he got the job, started searching for a place to live. It wasn't easy, though, especially since he the only mode of transportation he had was the bus or the metro.

Right after his first day on the job, on the way home, he stopped at a building. Today was the day he had to start AA and he wasn't looking forward to it one bit.

He double checked that the address of the building matched the one on the paper he held in his hands and checked the time. He had a good ten minutes until it started. Half of that time was spent outside pacing as he tried to convince himself to go inside.

When he finally walked in, he followed the signs directing him to the correct room and sat down at an open chair. When he saw that there was coffee available he decided to get some, hoping that having something to do before this whole thing started would calm his nerves.

A few minutes later, the meeting started.

A man directed them to go in a circle and share – or decline to share. A couple of people introduced themselves and spent a few minutes talking about their progress or any challenges they've run into.

When it was his turn he stood up and waved to the group. "Hi. My name's Tommy and the judge ordered me to come here."

"Hi Tommy." The crowd echoed.

"Uh…" He scratched his cheek, not really knowing what else to say. "Well… I'm here cause I got a DUI and hit someone – a priest. I actually want to change this time but I don't know where to start."

"Well, coming here is a great first step." The discussion leader, Chris, said. "And speaking even though you know you don't have to… that's even better."

"Thanks." He said quietly, still feeling a little timid. He sat down and took a sip of his coffee.

The meeting went on for a while, as a few people took up a lot more sharing time than others, until they had a break.

"Hey! Tommy, right?" Chris asked when he walked up to the man who was refilling his coffee.

"Yeah." He looked at the other man suspiciously.

"Listen, if you ever need to talk in a non-group format, I – "

"I'm good, thanks. I don't need to talk about my feelings like some girl!" He spat out and then marched back to his seat.

Chris watched him go. He couldn't say he was surprised at the outburst given the situation but he couldn't help this nagging feeling that there was something deeper going on there.

XXXXX

"Maura, you're gonna hurt yourself! At least let me help with the bigger things!"

"No, Jane! You're under doctor's orders to not do any heavy lifting. And you're under my orders to not do anything at all." She said from behind a large box she was currently trying to get out of the apartment building and into the car.

They had been there for several hours now. Maura was determined to get a lot of Jane's stuff moved before the day was over.

"We have plenty of time to do this, you know that." Jane protested.

Maura shoved the box in the car and turned to face her fiancée. "You're only here to point out what you need. Otherwise I would have done this myself and you'd still be home."

Jane's mouth opened to say something else but she closed it. Instead, she walked over the M.E. and smiled. "I love how much you care about me, Maura, but I'm fine. I won't get hurt helping you out here."

"I'm not going to risk it. And I think we're almost done for the day, anyway. We can finish up tomorrow."

Jane reluctantly watched Maura bring down a few more boxes before they got in the car and went back home.

After unloading about half of the car, Maura was exhausted. She decided to call it a day and dragged Jane to bed.

XXXXX

"Hey Tommy." Frankie greeted as he was digging into his cereal. "Where you going?"

"Work."

That caused a cornflake to go out his nose – not a pleasant experience. "Work? Since when?"

"Uh… since I got a job." He didn't want everyone to make such a big deal out of this.

Frankie just smiled up at him. "Well, I'm proud of you bro. And I hope you keep out of trouble."

"Yeah, yeah." He waved him off and walked out the door.

It took a few minutes of walking, two bus transfers, and the subway until he arrived at work. He clocked in and grabbed a hardhat before readying himself for another day of heavy lifting. It wasn't easy but he was grateful for it nonetheless.

Hours passed and he kept at it, determined to not do anything to screw up even when the others were screwing around. Keeping focused on this helped keep his mind off other things, like how much he wanted a drink. Work ended soon enough and he headed to the next part in his fix-Tommy schedule.

A few of the people he saw yesterday greeted him as they walked in. He threw his Jacket on the coat rack by the door and saw Chris starting to head over. He headed for the coffee, not feeling up to confronting the overly-helpful man right now.

They all took their seats and Chris clapped his hands together, ready to get started. "So I thought today we could talk about why we started to drink. I know some of you have talked about this already but it might be helpful for some of our newest members." When he said that he looked directly at Tommy, who avoided the gaze.

A few discussed a habit that merely got out of control while others had deeper reasons.

"Tommy?" Chris asked. "Would you like to tell us why you started drinking?"

"It's none of your damn business!" He spit out harshly, crossing his arms against his chest defensively. He spent the rest of the meeting in silence but still listening to the other's stories. When it was finally over he grabbed his jacket and got out of there as fast as he could.

As soon as he hit the cold Boston air, Tommy reached into his pocket to warm his hands. He was surprised when it hit paper. He pulled it out and it had an unfamiliar name and number. He frowned at the message written on it – _Here's someone who can help – _and shoved it back in his pocket. After looking at it a few more times on his walk home he sighed and stopped at the nearest payphone.

"Hello, Karen Davis speaking."

"Hi… um… I got this number from a, uh, friend and I don't really…" He trailed off. What was he doing?

"It's okay. I take it you need some therapy."

"Therapy?" He reeled back. It's not that he was surprised at the fact he was calling a therapist – he actually figured that to be the case – he just didn't expect to hear it out loud. "I… I don't need – I'm not…"

"How about this: We can meet – just to chat – and go from there."

"O-okay… sure. But I don't have a lot of money."

She could tell he was someone in desperate need of help. "That's okay. First session's free. And after that… well I can talk to you about that later."

"Thanks."

They set up a time to meet at her office the next day.

XXXXX

After loading in the last of the boxes that Jane would need – deciding they'd take the bigger stuff down to the nearest Goodwill when the detective got better – they decided to head to a nearby café for lunch.

"So what's next on your great wedding hunt agenda?" Jane asked.

"Hmm… well, we're going to need to find someone to do our invitations."

"How about e-mail?"

Maura, hoping that was supposed to be a joke, gave her a look saying it wasn't funny.

"Okay… what else?"

"Have you given any thought to our honeymoon?"

"Not really."

"Good. I've wanted to go to Barbados on my honeymoon ever since I was a child. That's where my parents went and they've always talk about it fondly." Even though she wasn't currently happy with her family at the moment, she couldn't deny they had excellent taste in travel.

She wasn't surprised that Maura had this idea in her head for practically her whole life. "Then I guess that's where we're going." She took a bite of her sandwich and smiled at the woman across from her. That was easy and she was extremely thankful. She didn't want to have to search through millions of websites trying to find the perfect destination like she was sure Maura was going to make her do.

After finishing up their meal they chatted for awhile and then went home. They started unloading the car, Maura actually letting Jane help with a few boxes, and then settled in on the couch. A few episodes of _Cops _and a nap later, Maura got up, trying carefully not to disturb her still sleeping fiancée.

Jane awoke not too long later to the smell of food and got up. "Hey, what'cha cookin'?" She walked up behind the M.E., wrapped her hands around her waist, and peered into the pot.

"Food." Maura answered simply before batting her away.

"Thanks." She deadpanned, deciding to flip through some mail she had grabbed at her apartment earlier instead. After nothing but junk mail she sighed at what she saw.

"What is it?" Maura asked, stopping her stirring and walking over there in concern.

"Just a high school reunion."

"Oh! When is it?"

"Does it matter? You don't think I'm going do you?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Did you miss it when I said 'high school'?"

"Jane… it's not that bad." She took the papers from Jane's hands and examined them. "You're an accomplished woman and about to be married. Why wouldn't you want to share that with the people you went to school with?"

"You're not going to let this drop are you?"

"I just think it's a good idea to go, that's all." She placed the invite on the counter before going back to attend to their dinner.

Jane sighed, knowing Maura was right. She thought about it for a few more minutes before she spoke. "So you'll come?"

Maura filled some bowls and, before placing them on the table, she placed a kiss on Jane's cheek. "Wouldn't miss it."

XXXXX

After finishing work the next day, Tommy sat down in a rather small waiting room. He felt really out of place there but was grateful there wasn't anyone else around. It only took a few minutes of thumbing through the nearest magazine for him to be called in.

"So, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself." She leaned forward on her chair and looked at him like she was genuinely interested.

"Uh… well my name's Tommy. I just got out of prison not too long ago. I ran over a priest. It was my third DUI conviction." He looked down, embarrassed at his actions. "Right now I live with my parents. An' I got a brother and a sister. They're both cops."

Karen's eyebrows lifted up at this. Usually such behavior runs in families. From what she was hearing so far, this didn't seem to be the case.

"I'm in AA right now – court ordered – and just found a job as a construction worker. I really want to try and get my life back but I'm not sure it's even possible."

"Of course it's possible. And I promise you, I'm going to do anything I can to help. Okay?"

He nodded. "Thanks."

She let them sit in silence for a moment before speaking again. "Tommy… do you have any idea what might be contributing to your behavior?"

He sucked in a sharp breath and looked away. He nodded his head but didn't show any indication he wanted to speak.

She prodded anyway. "Do you want to tell me what that is?"

He closed his eyes and breathed for a moment before slowly recounting the nightmare he's had to keep to himself for practically his whole life.

When he was done, Karen tried her best to compose herself. She was expecting something bad, yes, but not this bad. "Wow. Well… I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" His voice raised with each word. He knew this was going to be a waste of time.

"No… just… it will take some time to fix this. This isn't something you can talk about for twenty minutes and be done with it. Tommy, I'm afraid you'll never forget about this but I'm going to work with you until you can lead a normal life and that just becomes another part of your past."

"Okay… but I don't think I can afford it… one-twenty a session?"

"Have you ever heard of a sliding scale?"

"No."

"Basically it allows you to pay whatever you can afford and, in return, I get a tax break."

"Really? Cool."

She nodded. "So, it looks like we are almost out of time for today. What do you say? Would you like to keep coming here?"

Tommy nodded. "Yes."

"Good to hear. I think you would benefit from bi-weekly meetings. I think we have a lot of things we need to work through."

He agreed and they discussed payment and meeting times.

With a handshake and another 'thank you', Tommy left the office, feeling like things were starting to look up.


	7. Chapter 7

After a wedding themed blur of a week, it was time for yet another family dinner at the Rizzoli's.

"How's move-in going, girls?" Angela inquired curiously when they entered.

"Good. We're all done bringing everything over that will stay at my – I mean, our home."

"We'd have been done sooner if _someone _would let me help." Jane said in mock annoyance but the smile on her face gave her away.

Maura caught onto the joking tone but responded seriously anyway, grin all the while present. "I told you, Jane, I don't want you to hurt yourself again. If you go back into the hospital you're sleeping alone. I'm not spending another night in one of those beds when I don't have to."

"Oh, I'm sure I can be very convincing." Jane winked.

When talk turned to a discussion on wedding color combinations, Jane wandered into the other room to see if the Rizzoli men had a more interesting conversation going on. She saw Frankie sitting on the sofa while Tommy was getting talked to by Frank.

"I gave you a week and you're closing in on two. I gave you a break when you got a job but you're running out of time and I'm running out of patience."

"But I can't find a place, Pop." Tommy said. He had been looking high and low but couldn't find a single vacancy anywhere near his price range.

"How much are you looking to spend?" Jane asked. When she overheard the conversation an idea started to form in her head.

"About fifteen-hundred a month, maybe?"

"Mine's a little over that. Maybe we can talk to the rental office and you can move in. I'm pretty much completely moved into Maura's. And you can keep the big stuff that I don't feel like moving."

"Really?" He was surprised. Out of his whole family, Jane was the one least likely to give him a chance.

Jane nodded. "Yeah, we can go down there tomorrow." She saw that her brother was actually trying. She was floored when she found out he got a job and was looking for a place to live.

"Thanks Sis!" He patted her on the shoulder.

"Yeah. But if you go back to how you were..."

"I know. Don't worry. I won't be running down anymore priests." He smiled at her sincerely. "And I've already been to a few AA meetings to make sure of that, even if they were court ordered." Even if the meetings were annoying, he was trying his best to get his life back in order. He was determined to finally do something good with his life and his siblings, especially Jane, were a great example.

"Good to hear." She smiled, hoping that this time his attempts at change would last.

Maura joined them when Angela had to tend to the food and the five made small talk until dinner was ready and Angela called them into the dining room.

"Oh, girls, before I forget. I talked to Jenny De Luca today. Her daughter, Jessica, is still not back yet but she gave me a website you can look at." She said after the food had been dished out and she took her seat.

Jane searched her brain for the name but was coming up short. "What was this for again?" There were so many things to keep track of she couldn't remember.

"The photographer."

"Oh, yeah… thanks Ma." She stabbed another group of noodles and brought it up to her mouth.

"So how has everyone else been?" Maura asked, genuinely interested.

Frankie shrugged. "Just been staying here. Not too exciting."

"Pretty much just work and stuff." Tommy answered.

"Same here." Frank said.

"Oh…" Maura frowned. That conversation topic didn't last too long.

Jane just barely stifled her laugh. Apparently, Maura hadn't caught onto the fact that it was nearly impossible to rope the Rizzoli men into a conversation. If she wanted their dinner time to be filled with conversation, there was an easy way to do that. "What about you, Ma?"

Angela Rizzoli lit up and started talking about her day. It didn't consist of much and there wasn't really anything new, except maybe a few engagement party details, but it did the job.

XXXXX

When they walked through the door they decided to check out the website. Sitting closely, they log on and browse.

"She sure does like taking pictures of her cats." Jane stated after a page full of almost nothing but felines.

"Jane!" Maura chided.

"What? Just makin' an observation."

"This is _very_ impressive work." Maura noted after they had gone through most of the pictures. "I especially liked that kiwi photo."

"Yeah, that was good. So you want to meet her?"

"Absolutely. And until then I guess we can meet some other ones."

"Think you can handle those on your own?" Jane said, sighing in weariness at the thought of being dragged to even _more _places.

"Why? Are you feeling okay? The wound hasn't re-opened has it?" She moved to lift up Jane's shirt to inspect it but was batted away.

"Yes, jeez, I'm fine! I just don't really want to go around the city for someone else when we've already found someone good."

Maura pouted. "Jane! The photographer is the absolute most important part of the wedding planning! Without a good one we won't remember our special day!"

"You're not planning to be drunk the _whole _time, are you?" Jane laughed at her own joke and then saw the seriousness on Maura's face. "Alright, alright, you win. But I think this one," she motioned to the computer, "_is _a good one. But you know better as far as that artsy stuff goes. And I guess there aren't a lot of people in those pictures unless they're in costume so we really don't know how she'll do with that."

"True, but you cannot deny she has a fantastic eye. We'll have to discuss it with her when the time comes."

Jane nodded, bookmarked the page, and shut down the computer.

While they were getting ready for bed, they decided that they wouldn't look for other photographers until after they met with this one.

The next day, Jane picked up Tommy and drove to her apartment complex and they were able to get him set up, despite his criminal background. Since Jane's been residing there for so long they trusted her word and she vowed that if he did anything she would make sure he would be held responsible.

"Thanks again, Sis." Tommy said as they walked to her car, visibly grateful. "I don't know what I can do to repay you."

"Just don't disappoint us again." She gave him a pointed look.

"I'll try my best not to." He nodded.

"Good." She got in the car and winced, turning her body too far.

He noticed as he was getting into the car. "You okay? Do you need me to drive?" He wasn't normally comfortable playing the part of a concerned sibling but he made an exception for Jane.

"No, I'm fine. And your license is suspended, remember?"

"Yeah, whatever. Do you need me to call someone, then?"

"No. I told you… I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes, yes. Geez, you're worse than Ma."

Tommy laughed. "I don't think that's possible."

It was a short ride back filled with a comfortable silence. When they parked in front of the Rizzoli house, Tommy moved to get out of the car but was stopped.

"Forgetting something?" Jane asked, taking her apartment key off her key ring. "I'm pretty sure we got everything so it's all yours now."

He grinned. "Thank you. Really. You have no idea what this means to me, Sis."

"Just helping out family." Jane said, knowing that it was more than that.

He shook his head. "No, it's more than that. You're giving me a chance. I can't say that a lot of people have done that, especially since you were so sure before that I would never change. It really does mean a lot."

Jane just nodded her head in acknowledgement but was shocked when she felt her brother reach over and gave her a hug.

He gave her a brief smile before getting out of the car and going inside.

The detective just sat there, slightly confused. She honestly couldn't remember the last time Tommy had acted like this.

XXXXX

They were sitting at the table eating breakfast. Well… Jane was eating breakfast. Maura was letting hers get cold while she went through various papers to see what they've accomplished so far and what they need.

"So… any thoughts on a first dance song?" Maura asked, going down the checklist.

Jane just shrugged. She was fine with anything.

Maura's expression faltered a bit as she realized something.

"What's wrong?" The mood change was so sudden that it worried her.

"We don't have a song."

Jane's face matched Maura's. That was a problem. It was definitely something they'd need before the wedding.

"Don't worry, Maura, we'll find something." She assured her. How hard could it be to find a song anyway, right?

They continued on with their meal when Maura spoke up, getting an idea.

"Perhaps Berlioz's _Symphonie Fastastique_?"

"Does it have lyrics?"

"Traditionally? No."

"Then that's a no. I'd like something from this century."

"That's only roughly 11 years, Jane… not a lot to work with, especially since most traditional wedding songs are from – "

"I meant from our lifetime, Miss Literal." Jane said, smiling at her.

Maura sighed. "How about you take over this task?"

"You want me to find our song?" Jane was surprised. This was the kind of thing she was sure Maura wanted a part of, if not complete control.

"Yep. You'll do great, I know it." She got up and placed a kiss on Jane's cheek before she had to leave for an appointment with the invitation maker. She had rightfully figured Jane would rather not tag along.

Jane sat there for a few minutes after she left and thought. What song could they use? She went through the MP3 playlist in her mind and came up with nothing. She hopped up, put her plate into the sink, and went onto Maura's computer to search.

Hours later Maura walked through the door and Jane was still looking for songs.

"Find anything yet?"

"Nope. I have a couple maybes but nothing that jumps out at me."

A day later, Jane's 'Possible First Dance' playlist had switched from sticky notes to actual paper. Some of them were the same song but just sung by different people, as she was not sure which versions she preferred or which Maura would like best.

Eventually, she hit YouTube to see what other people have done. Dozens of videos later, she restarted the current video and paused it. "Maura, Maura! Come look at this!" Jane ushered Maura over to the computer. She unplugged the headphones that she was using so Maura could concentrate on other tasks.

She started the video of a couple's first dance. It started slow and sweet, beautifully backdropped by Hawaii. They were looking into each other's eyes, surely ready to start their lives together. Maura looked on sweetly. A moment passed and the music on screen changed to something upbeat and the couple launched into a well rehearsed choreography.

Jane laughs along with the couple's family and looks to Maura. "How about we do something like this?" She asks, knowing the doctor would never agree to such a thing.

Maura ignores the request. "I tell you to find a song and you come up with this?"

"Sorry." Jane said sheepishly. "I was seeing other people's first dances and sort of found this."

"Do you need help?"

"No, no… I want to find it. It's just turning out to be harder than I thought."

"Alright… but if you change your mind…"

Jane nodded and closed the current tab, getting back to browsing suggestions from wedding sites.

Another hour passed and Maura appeared by her side. "You're still at that?"

Jane looked up wearily, suppressing the urge to respond in rhyme. "Yeah."

"I think you should take a break. I appreciate the dedication you're giving this but you need to know when it's time to shift your focus to something else."

"Like what?" She dreaded having to attend to another wedding task.

"Well…" She pulled on her love's arm, dragging her out of the chair. "How about this?" She leaned forward and kissed her. "I've really missed it."

Jane smiled. "Me too."

They decided to get ready for bed and then continue that activity there, where they cuddled and kissed until they fell asleep.

XXXXX

"How are you feeling today?" Maura asked, walking into the kitchen the next morning as Jane was making their breakfast.

Jane was unsure if she should answer honestly, but figured Maura would know if she didn't. "Fine. I don't feel anything unless I twist my body and even then it's just a bit sore."

"Good. You up for dress shopping today?"

"Uh… isn't it bad luck for us to see each other's dresses?" She tried to reason.

"Of course it is. That's why your mother is coming with us. We'll be going to the same stores but we won't be modeling for each other. I think it'll be easier that way, don't you?"

"I guess." She was reluctant to agree. She had a recurring nightmare about dress shopping with her mother. It was like a perpetual hell.

"If you don't want to – "

"No, it's fine. We'll go. I guess it'll be good to get that out of the way before I can go back to work."

Maura nodded. "Yes. And we should take advantage of the fact that there haven't been any murders lately."

"Yeah. If it keeps going like this then we'll have everything done in no time." She scooped some eggs onto a plate and handed it to Maura.

"Let's hope." She said, sitting down.

They finished their breakfast and then called Angela, deciding to meet at the Rizzoli house and going from there.

XXXXX

It was the seventh store they've been in and neither one had found something they liked. Angela found several things she thought Jane would look "darling" in but Jane, understandably, didn't get any of them.

"This is getting hopeless." Maura said. "I'm never going to find the perfect…" She stopped in her tracks.

"Maura?" Jane looked back when she realized she didn't have the M.E. at her side.

"I should have thought of this before. I don't have to find it. I have to have it made." Maura pulled out her cell phone and started walking again.

"What? Maura, that doesn't really make sense."

"Shh." Maura stuck out her finger for emphasis. "Hello John, it's Maura. I know I haven't kept in touch as much as I should have but I need a dress. Two actually." She paused, letting the man on the other line speak. "Fantastic, we'll see you then!"

Jane and Angela looked at each other, not knowing what to make of the call.

"What just happened?" Jane finally said.

"You'll see. I've got it all taken care of." Maura said with a smile just before she kissed Jane's cheek.

"That's what worries me." She said with a playful gleam in her eye.


	8. Chapter 8

"So, what is it? Day ten?" Patrick, one of the regulars, asked as he walked up next to Tommy and started his coffee.

Tommy nodded. Sometime in the last few days someone mentioned he do a 90-90, that is, attending ninety meetings in ninety days, if he was really serious about this. The court only wanted him go to thirty meetings and, originally, he figured he'd get as many out of the way as possible. He wasn't thrilled at the prospect of coming here more than he had to but he did want to get better so he decided to go for it.

"You'll get there. Today's seventy-eight for me."

Tommy looked at him and his eyebrows raised. "Wow. That's a lot of meetings."

He nodded and took a sip. "I'd be well past ninety now if I hadn't relapsed halfway through."

"Any tips?"

"Well, you'll need a good support system, that's for sure. And you need to believe in yourself. Sometimes that's the hardest part."

Tommy nodded in agreement. He was working on the latter part in therapy but wasn't sure about the former. He felt as though his family didn't believe he was really in it for the long run. Maybe if he did as his therapist suggested and talked to them about his past they might see things differently.

His thoughts were interrupted when Chris called for the meeting to start.

When it was his turn to talk he decided to take a chance and share something. "Hi, I'm Tommy and… I'm an alcoholic." It was the first time he admitted it in the group, though he had already admitted it to himself and Karen. He waited for the rest of the group bid their hellos before continuing. "I used alcohol to numb some pretty painful memories and I'm not proud of that. Today's my tenth day in a row of attendance and it's really difficult. Every day I have to walk by bars that I used to go to all the time and I have to force myself to keep walking." He paused for a moment, thinking of something else to say but came up with nothing. Instead, he thanked them for listening and sat back down.

XXXXX

Maura, Jane and Angela arrived at a relatively small boutique located in the Back Bay. They stepped inside and a bell dinged, indicating their arrival. A man looked up from a paper he was reading and smiled.

"Ah, my darling! It's so good to see you again and for such a happy occasion!" He walked over to Maura and gave her a kiss on each cheek after pulling away from a hug.

"Thank you, John. It's good to see you too." She smiled and then turned to the others. "Jane, Angela, this is John Kai. He's a very good friend of the family's."

"Ah, this stunning creature must be Jane," John gushed, walking up to said woman and extending his hand. "It is so wonderful to meet the person who has captured my dear Maura's heart."

Jane smiled, though still a little wary of this man. "Thanks. It's nice to meet you too."

He turned to Angela. "And this must be your sister." He said to the older woman. It was obvious he was not serious but it was sweet of him to say nonetheless.

Angela laughed. "No, I'm Jane's mother." She held out her hand and allowed him to kiss the top of it.

"Nonsense, a young lady like you?" He smiled.

"Oh, hush." Angela said, still smiling.

He shifted his attention to Maura. "And I heard what happened with your parents. Such a pity. And a surprise. Surely they knew about me."

"I think they turned a blind eye to that since you're so talented. They didn't want to have to find someone else."

"Well I don't like to toot my own horn but…"

"Oh yes you do." Maura laughed, thinking of many times in the past he had bragged about his designs being used in movies and red carpet events.

"Alright, you got me there." He laughed and then clapped his hands together. "So, shall we begin?"

After asking a few questions about the general style of the wedding he took each soon-to-be bride in another room for measurements. There he also asked questions of taste, such as their feelings on ruffles, lace and whatnot – understandably spending more time with Jane on this than Maura – and comparing various samples of fabric to their skin tone. Within the hour they were done and out the door, while John set to work on two soon to be fabulous dresses.

"So, uh, Maura… how much is this guy gonna cost?" Jane asked hesitantly a moment after they exited the building.

"Oh, don't worry about that."

"But shouldn't we stick to a budget or something?"

"A budget? Sure! We'll try to keep it under a hundred grand."

Both Jane and Angela stopped, shocked still at the number.

"A – a hundred? Don't you want to pick a number a bit lower than that? Like, maybe, ten?"

Maura laughed. "Jane, the venue will cost three times that!"

"Maura…" Jane's voice was low and her tone was as if she just caught a puppy digging up a flowerbed. "Do you mean to tell me that we're going to spend as much as I make in half a year on not even one full day's rental of four walls and a ceiling?"

"Four walls and a ceiling that happen to have a perfect view! And you're forgetting who you're talking to, Jane. Did I forget to mention that I will be paying for this wedding?"

"Who pays doesn't matter. Don't you think that money can be put to better use?"

"Jane!" Angela admonished. "Don't complain about her paying for something like this!"

"Your mother's right. I want a perfect wedding and the only way to assure that is with money."

Jane put a hand to her temple and sighed. "Fine, whatever." She walked off in the opposite direction than where they were going.

"Where are you –? Jane!" Maura moved to follow but was stopped by Angela.

"Let her go." She pulled her arm back. "Trust me, just leave her be."

"Why did she…?" Maura looked shocked and confused at Jane's behavior.

"She doesn't like it when people spend money like it's nothing. She didn't grow up with much so she doesn't understand it. To tell you the truth, I don't either."

Maura nodded, remembering Jane's attitude during the case they dealt with involving the death of her ex's half-brother. "But shouldn't I talk to her?"

"She'll come around." Angela promised. "But when she does, you two should probably sit down and talk about this."

It wasn't going to be an easy conversation, Maura knew, but she was willing to have it. She knew that them coming from two completely different backgrounds was going to create a bit of animosity in some areas but she was willing to work through it if Jane was.

The two decided to continue on with their plans without the detective and, a couple hours later, Maura returned home only to find Jane standing in the kitchen. Without a word she walked up to her and kissed her.

Jane pulled back, confused. "What was that for?"

"Don't you remember? We have to remember _this_." She leaned in for another kiss, which Jane responded to with fervor.

Jane smiled at that but stepped back anyway, increasing the distance between them.

"Yes, I know we still have to talk about what happened back there." Maura said, responding to the action and the look on Jane's face.

"I just think that there are better uses for the money. I mean maybe we'll want to move out of your place and find one of our own."

"Then we'll still be able to afford it."

"That's not the point, Maura. We need to think of the future. One of us could get sick or something and we wouldn't have the money to pay the bills. Or maybe – "

Maura stopped Jane's speech by holding up her hand. "Jane, I have plenty of money and you and I both have stable jobs so I know that's not the issue. What's really going on here?"

Jane sighed. "I don't know. I know I shouldn't be telling you how to spend your own money but I do wish you'd budget a little more. And I guess I feel a little uncomfortable about all this. You come from money and now you're joining a family that is far from that."

"Are you worried that I'll leave you because your family is not rich?" That thought was laughable but she couldn't help but worry that it was an issue for the woman in front of her.

"No!" Jane said immediately but then thought about it. "Maybe… I don't know…"

"Jane… your family _is _rich. In love. It's a far more precious commodity than anything physical."

She smiled. "Thanks. I guess I just let my insecurities get the better of me, sorry."

"No need to apologize. But I guess I can try to tone down the spending a bit."

"Thank you." She kissed her.

Maura nodded and reciprocated.

They moved to the couch where they cuddled together and further discussed the topic for awhile before going to bed.

XXXXX

Monday rolled around and Jane was allowed back to work. As soon as she and Maura stepped into her department they were greeted by a welcome back banner.

After a warm round of welcome back hugs and handshakes, Cavanaugh started passing out the cake he brought in for the occasion.

"No thanks." Jane declined the piece offered to her. "I haven't regained my appetite for cake yet."

When he gave her a confused look she explained and he laughed. About a half-hour of conversation about Jane's hospitalization and recent engagement passed before Cavanaugh ordered everyone to get back to work.

As soon as his door shut, Crowe spoke up. "What do you say, Captain. Up for a game of trashcan basketball?"

"Definitely!"

XXXXX

After an uninteresting couple of days at work, the two affianced ladies met up with the woman they hoped would be their photographer, as she was finally back from her vacation.

"Have you done weddings before?"

"Yes, here I'll get those pictures." She stood up and headed out of the room, coming back a minute or so later. "Here." She handed them a binder filled with photos.

They flipped through them and were delighted with what they saw. They was like snippets of a wonderful dream on four by six cards.

"These are amazing." Maura said. Part of her wished the wedding would be over just so that she could find out what her prints would look like.

"Thank you." Jessica smiled.

"Yeah, I think me an' Maura are in agreement here. We'll definitely be wanting you to be our photographer."

"Fantastic! So when's the big day?"

"January 7th."

Jessica skimmed the pages of her date book and grinned when her finger landed on the date. "I'm completely free then."

"Great! Then it looks like we'll have to discuss prices." Maura said.

Jessica smiled and hopped up, grabbing a nearby sheet of paper. "Well this explains it all. Here's my base price," she said, pointing to a number, "and these are the packages you can choose from. They're flexible, though, if you wanted something extra or whatever."

Maura looked through it while Jane looked over her shoulder. "It sounds reasonable. Jane?"

"You know better than I do. Looks good to me."

"Then it looks like we've found our photographer!" Maura said excitedly.

Thank god, Jane thought. One more thing down, dozens to go.

XXXXX

A few sessions of AA and another therapy session later, Tommy felt ready to discuss his past with his family. He took a nice long walk to his parent's house and knocked on the door. His mother greeted him with a confused but happy look and let him in.

"Did you come home for dinner?" She knew he was still trying to get used to living on his own at Jane's old place and figured he didn't have much food stocked up.

"Dinner would be awesome." He_ was _feeling rather hungry. "But I actually came to talk to you about something."

Angela felt the air in the room shift and looked at him in concern. "Is everything okay?"

He avoided the question and, instead, directed her to the dining room. "Can we just talk?" He sat down in his chair.

"Of course." She sat across from him.

He stayed silent for a few minutes, trying to figure out where to start.

Angela waited patiently but was very worried.

"Ma… remember that summer you sent us to camp and how afterwards I started acting up?"

"Yeah."

"Well… camp may have contributed to that."

Angela looked confused but nodded. "We figured that you may have gotten stuck with the wrong group of people there."

"Well… not exactly." Tommy looked down, not wanting to remember but needing to get it out. "My cabin leader… he…" He sighed, trying to compose himself. "When everyone was heading to the lake he stopped me and told me to go inside…"

Angela, afraid of where this was headed, wasn't sure she wanted to hear anymore. She nodded anyway. "Go on, honey."

He swallowed sharply as tears started to gather in the corner of his eyes. He wiped them away before he continued. "He took off my clothes and started to touch me."

Angela's face expressed a myriad of differing emotions ranging from hate and disgust towards the man who dared to touch her child to horror and absolute agony at the thought of her son having to go through that. "Oh honey, that's horrible." She got up, wanting to hug him but he held up his hand to stop her.

"That's not all." He waited until she sat back down to continue. "After he was done… touching me... he took off his clothes and dragged me to the bed. He held me down while he – " His voice cracked and tears started to flow freely. He couldn't get the last bit out and took a moment to compose himself. "He… he…" He let out an anguished cry and broke down, putting his head down on the table. "He raped me, Ma!"

The voice was muffled but Angela heard it loud and clear. She didn't even wait for him to lift his head back up before moving to the other side of the table and bringing him into a hug. With each soul shattering sob her heart broke more than she thought was even possible.

"What's going on in here?" Frank walked in. He heard the crying and was surprised to see his youngest son was the source of it.

After whispering something in Tommy's ear, and receiving a nod, Angela stood up and directed her husband into another room.

"Tommy just told me that he was… raped… at camp by his cabin leader." She could barely get that horrible word out.

"What!"

"Shh… He's really upset and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't shout."

"Sorry."

"But he said that he thinks this is why he started acting up."

"It does make sense." He frowned at the new information. "And he's been keeping this a secret for this long? Why didn't he say anything sooner?"

"Oh!" She said, getting a tidbit of information in her mind. "There was an episode of _Law and Order _on not too long ago where something like this happened. There were four victims, all male, and they were too scared to even press charges. They felt ashamed it happened. Of course, though those were adults on a TV show..."

"So, what? Tommy's ashamed? That makes no sense. It's not his fault."

"I know. But maybe he feels that way."

Frank frowned and looked over towards his son. "So what do we do now?"

"Anything he needs, I guess. I don't really know." Angela started to cry again. After a reassuring hug from her husband, they both went back into the dining room.

Frank put a hand on his son's shoulder, causing him to look up. "Tommy, it's not your fault, you know that, right?"

"That's what everybody keeps saying." He said,

"Everybody?"

"My therapist."

"I didn't know you were seeing a therapist. I thought you were only obligated to go to AA."

"I was… I am. I just… I went there on my own. She convinced me that it was a good idea to tell you guys." He looked away, still ashamed at having to go to others for help.

"Well it's a good thing you did." Angela said. A brief silence passed over them again until she spoke up, remembering something. "Tommy, can I ask you something about that summer?"

He nodded his head.

"Those bruises you came home with. They weren't from playing football with your friends, were they?"

"No… they weren't."

"_He _gave them to you."

It wasn't a question, more like stating a fact, but he answered anyway. "Yeah." He stood up quickly, startling the other two. "Maybe telling you was a bad idea." He started to leave but Frank blocked his path.

"Why do you say that?" Angela asked.

"He told me that if I ever told anyone he would hurt me even more. He made me swear I would never tell."

"Tommy… he's not here. He can't hurt you." She placed a hand on his shoulder gently.

"But what if he does? I don't want him to go after any of you because of something I couldn't keep to myself!"

"Tommy!" Frank said at a near yell, getting him to stop freaking out. "It's not your fault! He did this to you! He was a very bad man!"

The ex-con stayed silent, taking in the words. He didn't believe it one bit. He always thought back to that day. He could have done something. If he would have gone to the lake with the kids, this wouldn't have happened. If he fought back, this wouldn't have happened. If he hadn't wanted so badly to go to camp that year, this wouldn't have happened.

They sat there for a few minutes talking about the incident and its repercussions. It didn't take too long for the sun to set and for Angela to insist that Tommy stay the night after eating dinner. He agreed, not really feeling up for being in his place all alone tonight.


	9. Chapter 9

Frankie clumsily made his way to the kitchen. He had been out cold for the last twelve hours but wasn't really surprised – those pain pills sure did make him tired. When he turned a corner he spotted Tommy sitting at the dining room table, poking at his cereal with a spoon.

"You're here early. What's the matter, can't eat breakfast at your place?"

"I stayed the night."

"Really? I didn't hear you get here." Though it's not like he would, he conked out at around five.

Tommy just shrugged, not really up for talking.

Frankie regarded his brother for a moment. "You didn't do anything to get kicked out, did you?"

"No… I just needed to talk to Ma." After his discussion with his parents last night, he had decided it would be best to tell Frankie and Jane at the same time so he didn't want to bring it up. In any event, he certainly didn't feel like talking about it right now.

He was going to inquire further but decided not to, figuring that whatever it was Tommy didn't want him to know. "Okay… but it's still pretty early."

"Couldn't sleep." His nightmares have definitely gotten worse ever since he started therapy and was starting to wonder if it was even worth continuing.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Go ahead."

Frankie got himself a bowl of cereal and sat across from the younger man. There was an awkward silence that he wanted to fill with conversation but he had a feeling it would just add to the uncomfortable air. Something big happened here last night. He could feel it.

XXXXX

To say this week back at work was going slow would be like saying an aardvark had a unique name – an understatement. Since there were no homicides, a definite surprise given the season, they were instructed to go over cold cases. This was the part of the job Jane hated the most, besides the death and sadness surrounding it, of course.

But, after all the mundane, it was time to have some fun. Halloween weekend finally showed up like a saving grace.

As Maura never really celebrated the holiday, Jane had to show her the ropes. They decided with just the basics – carving pumpkins, decorating the house, and watching a bad monster flick whilst waiting for the neighborhood kids to show up.

About halfway through the movie they got bored with it. There's only so many times you can make fun of an obvious costume zipper until it just becomes sort of pathetic.

They brought the candy outside and sat on the front step. A few groups of kids and several teens unwilling to grow up later, their candy supply was running low.

Jane opted to run back inside and get another bag. As she sat back down and started to pour the candy in the bowl, she spoke. "Kind of makes you reconsider your viewpoint on having kids, doesn't it?"

"You want children?" Maura was surprised. Even though they've never talked about it, she always figured they shared the same view on that.

Jane shrugged. "I don't know. It was just a thought. You can't tell me you've never thought about it."

"Once or twice. But I know it wouldn't be a good idea."

The detective's brows furrowed. "Why's that?"

"I wouldn't make a very good mother."

Jane laughed. "Okay," she said, not believing her, "what makes you say that?"

"You know how I was raised. I don't want anyone else to have to go through that."

"Then they won't. Maura…" She gave her a warm and affectionate look. "You are _nothing_ like your parents. You are such an amazingly compassionate person. If it was any different, I don't think I would have fallen for you."

The M.E. gave her a smile and scooted closer before lacing their fingers together.

Across the street, one parent stopped with her kids and looked at the two in confusion. She cocked her head for a moment before going over there. Her kids made a bee line for the candy. "Maura? Is that you? I've never seen you out here on Halloween."

"Hi Amy." She greeted her neighbor. "My fiancée talked me into it."

"Fiancé?" She looked around. "I didn't know you were engaged. Where is he?"

"Right here." Jane waved.

"Oh! Sorry... I didn't mean to assume. It's just – I thought – "

"It's fine, really."

"Well, congratulations! Have you two set a date yet?"

"January 7th."

"That's going to come up quicker than you think, I hope you have a lot done or there's going to be a lot of stress. Trust me, I know."

Maura nodded. "We do… but we also have a lot to do."

"Well good luck. I'd love to stay and chat but my kids are rather impatient." She pointed to Yoda and Snow White standing not too far away.

"Have fun!" Maura said, waving goodbye to the three of them, immediately moving her hands together quickly.

"Cold?"

"A little bit."

"Here." She took a hold of her right hand and rubbed hers against it, intermittently exhaling her hot breath on the cool flesh. She did the same with the other hand, careful of the twist tie ring still adorning it, and then kept hold of it. "Better?"

"Much." She smiled.

As time went on the frequency of princesses and pirates lessened. When fifteen minutes passed without a visitor they went back inside.

"So, how did you like your first Halloween?"

"It was… interesting."

"Interesting?"

"Well… it's not like I was never aware of the customs but it does seem a bit odd for parents to let their children run around in costumes and ask for candy."

Jane shrugged. "One day a year. It was always my favorite day."

"Why am I not surprised?"

She stepped up close smiled as she touched her forehead with Maura's. "Because you know me so well." She said before kissing her gently.

XXXXX

After two days of cold case dead ends, Jane turned her efforts back to finding a song, all the while keeping an eye out for Cavanaugh. When she soon realized that was going nowhere she decided to do something she had been meaning to do for a while.

She left the precinct and headed to a different part of town. There she went into a couple stores but came out each one not too long after, frustrated.

She entered a new building. This was the third jewelry store she's been in and she hasn't found anything yet. She didn't want this to turn into another week long hunt.

"Hey, can I help you?" The man standing behind the glass case asked.

"I'm looking for an engagement ring."

"He's lettin' you pick it? Smart guy."

She shook her head for the third shop a row. "No. I'm getting it for my fiancée."

"Fiancé? You're so sure he'll say yes?"

"_She _already has."

"Okay, then." He said, not even batting an eye at the pronoun change, before stepping out from behind the counter and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Angelo."

"Jane." She shook his hand.

"So do you know what you're looking for?"

"No. But I'm hoping I'll know it when I see it."

"Ah, you're one of those."

"I'm sorry?"

"You're looking for a ring to match the personality of your girl. It's hard work."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"But I think I might have what you're looking for." He brought her over to a case and opened it up, bringing out a group of diamond encrusted rings. "How's this one look?" He pointed to the one in the center.

"It's nice... but no."

He put the group back and rushed across the store, bringing out some more. "How about this one?" He pointed to a ring filled with sparkling jewels on the far right.

It looked good but the price tag didn't. "I don't think so."

He started to put it away when something caught her eye.

"Wait!" She held his arm steady and looked at a ring on the top row of the group he just showed her. "What about this one?"

"This one?" He looked at it closer. "Really?"

"Yeah." Jane smiled. "It's perfect." It was simple yet elegant. A silver band with three diamonds – middle stud being the largest – embedded into the ring. And the best part? It fit her budget.

"You sure?" He was paid by commission and this certainly wouldn't get him much closer to that new car he had an eye on.

"Definitely."

"Okay." He frowned but went to get the paperwork. A short while later, Jane had a velvet box in her pocket and headed back to work with a few hours to spare. She had initially kept it stashed in the glove compartment, thinking it could stay in there for the remainder of the work day, but the thought of it being stolen, as unlikely as it may seem given the fact her car was at the police station, had her shoving it into her pocket and praying the M.E. didn't notice.

Luck was on her side, it seemed, as Maura was busy working in her lab all day and never even noticed her absence. Funny thing was, there was no new body brought in and not even any bodies in storage but Jane just shrugged that off, figuring she had some random side project to work on.

When they returned home, Jane could tell Maura was very tired so she decided to hold off on the ring giving for another day.

The next day went by too slowly, as Jane couldn't wait to get home and repropose. Unfortunately for her, she was called out to help with a case in her old department and got home a bit later than usual.

"Maura!" Jane called out when she entered the residence.

"In here, Jane." A voice yelled from the bedroom.

Jane went in and saw her going through things in the closet.

"I thought I'd make some room so you don't have to keep all of your things in the guest room."

Jane smiled. "Thank you. But can you come out here for a second?"

"What for?" She stuck her head out.

"Just come here." She held out her hand and waited for Maura to take it. When she did she placed a light kiss on the soft flesh that resided there. She started to take the twist tie off her ring finger when Maura stopped her.

"Jane… what are you doing?"

"Just trust me."

And that's all she needed to say.

Jane removed it completely before placing it on the dresser right next to them. She kissed the spot on her finger that was now naked before kneeling down, still holding Maura's hand.

"Maura," she began softly, "You have no idea how happy you made me when you agreed to marry me. These past couple of months have been unbelievable and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you." With her free hand she extracted a small velvet box from her pocket. "I know it's not as special the second time around but I thought I'd do this right." She flipped open the lid to reveal an actual ring, diamonds and all, sparkling in anticipation. "Maura Isles… will you marry me?"

The standing woman didn't say anything. Instead she put her free hand on her chin in contemplation. "Hmm…"

"Maura?" A bit of fear was in her voice. Was she going to change her mind?

"I was just kidding. You really think I would say no?"

"You've never been known to kid." She said after letting out a sigh of relief.

"I guess you just bring out the best in me."

"I guess so." She let out sarcastically. A few seconds passed and she was still kneeling, box open. "Uh… Maura?"

"Oh, right! Of course I'll marry you, Jane!"

Jane stood up and was immediately engulfed in a hug.

Maura kissed her passionately before pulling back and looking into her eyes. "But you didn't have to do this, I told you. I was fine with that." She pointed to her other ring.

"I know, I know. But I wanted to." Jane smiled before taking the ring out of the box and slipped it onto Maura's finger. She kissed it once again before interlacing her own fingers with the M.E.'s. "And you deserve it."

Maura just smiled and brought her into another kiss. She pulled away. "And I was wondering when to do this but I suppose now's a good time."

"What?"

"Just wait there." Maura got up and went to her dresser. She pulled something out and hid it behind her back. She went back over to the detective and smiled. "I wanted to get you one too." She pulled out a small box and opened it to reveal a ring. "That way all the guys know you're already taken." She teased.

"Uh, Maura… Not that I'm not thrilled at this but I can't exactly wear this at work. It might get damaged."

"Oh, right. I thought of that too!" She went back to her dresser and pulled out a chain. "You can just put it on here!"

Jane smiled. "You really do think of everything."

"That's why I'm the smart one." Maura grinned.

"Hey!" Jane acted offended, knowing Maura didn't mean anything by it.

Their antics were interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone.

Jane frowned as she pulled away to get it. "Rizzoli." She answered. "Hey Ma." Her brows furrowed as she listened to the other end. "Yeah, sure… we'll be right there." She hung up and turned to Maura who had a questioning look on her face. "Family meeting. It sounds important."

"I hope it's not anything bad."

"Me too. But knowing Ma it'll probably have to do with something that doesn't even matter."

"You're probably right. Well, I guess I'll see you later then."

She gave her a look. "You're coming too. She asked for both of us."

Maura couldn't help but feel happy about that as she was still not used to being included with the family.


	10. Chapter 10

Before they even knocked, the door was opened. They were directed inside and made to sit at the table. Jane noticed the melancholy air immediately and was worried about the stoic look on her family's faces. Angela took a seat next to Tommy who was seated next to his father.

An expectant look crossed Jane's face and she directed it towards Angela, who just ignored it and waited for Tommy to start.

A few seconds later, he did.

"First of all I want to thank you for coming over. I know that you guys are busy an' I really appreciate it. Also, I want to apologize for all the hurt I caused this family. I know there are no excuses for what I've done but maybe after I say this you'll understand a little about why I did all those things. Not that it's any excuse." He took a shaky breath and then paused, continuing only after a comforting pat on the hand from his mother. "You see… when we were younger something happened. Do you guys remember Mr. Sage, me an' Frankie's cabin leader from camp?"

Jane and Frankie nodded their heads. He was one of their favorites. He always came up with the best ghost stories around the camp fire.

"Well a few days before camp ended he…." Tommy looked down, still ashamed of the truth. "He raped me."

A brief moment of disbelief passed over the three hearing it for the first time. Once it finally sunk in, Jane spoke up.

"I'll kill that son of a –"

"Jane!" Maura stopped her from getting up.

"No!" She wretched her arm from her grasp. "That bastard needs to pay for what he's done!"

"Jane!" Frankie stood up and tried to stop her. "Jane, wait!"

She was stopped by his hand grabbing her shoulder.

"We don't even know where he is. And if we find him we might not even be able to do anything about it. Trust me, I want to get him as much as you do but it was so long ago."

Jane shook her head. "I don't care. I'll find him if it kills me." She broke free of his grasp and left.

Frankie followed her, worried about what she might do.

Maura looked at the remaining occupants in the room with worry and concern. She had no idea what to do or what to say so she decided to just stay silent, even though facts were filling her mind, wanting to get out.

Hours passed and Jane still hadn't returned but Frankie had, not being able to follow her. Maura tried calling but to no avail. She was really starting to get worried.

"I should get going. She might have already gone home." Maura reasoned.

"Alright. Call me if you hear from her." Angela said.

She nodded, said a final goodbye to the others, and then left. On her way she tried Jane's phone again but it went straight to voicemail.

"Jane," she sighed. "Call me when you get this. I'm getting worried. I just want to know you're okay… I love you."

She made a stop off at the precinct to check if she was there.

"Hello, Dr. Isles. You're here late." The policeman who was normally on night duty nodded at her.

"Well, not for work. You haven't seen Detective Rizzoli tonight, have you?"

"Yeah… she was here for a few minutes. Is everything alright? She looked angry. Didn't even say hi like she normally does."

Maura sighed. "She's on some insane mission. Do you have any idea where she went?"

"No… I'm sorry."

"It's okay. She might have gone home… I'll check there."

"Good luck!"

"Thanks." She left and headed home only to find it vacant.

She slept alone that night, if you could call it sleep. She got maybe an hour of it while the rest of her night consisted of waiting by the door and tossing and turning in her big empty bed.

As soon as morning came, Maura headed to work. Maybe Jane had found him and brought him in. She had no such luck, but ran into Korsak.

"Hey, Maura. Where's Jane?"

"I was hoping you might know."

He shook his head. "Sorry. I don't have a clue."

"Okay. I guess she'll show up soon."

"Well… Frost might be able to find her location through her phone."

The offer was tempting. Normally, she wouldn't want to waste police resources but this was a special case.

Minutes later all they were able to determine was that her phone was off. The last known location was their home. Most likely, Maura figured, was that her phone died. Unless Maura reminded her, which she hadn't done in a while, it was a fifty-fifty chance she'd remember to plug it in.

Since it didn't seem like she was going to have much luck here, Maura thanked the two and then headed back to the Rizzoli's.

"Have you heard from her yet?" Angela asked.

She shook her head. "I was hoping you had."

She sighed. "She better get back soon. Your engagement party is this weekend."

Maura almost had forgotten about that. "We're probably going to have to cancel that."

Angela frowned. "Why?"

"Well… you know she's not coming back alone. And it would take some time for all this to be settled. You know Jane, she wouldn't be able to enjoy it when he's still out here."

"No." Tommy spoke up. "I don't want you guys to have all your plans ruined because of this."

"They won't be ruined. Just pushed back." Maura assured.

"No! You tell Jane it's still on for this weekend. I'm not going to call all those people and tell them differently." Angela protested.

"I would if I could get a hold of her..."

Angela sighed. "I swear, that girl is going to be the death of me."

Maura couldn't help but agree. But, then again, she could understand Jane's point of view on it as well. She just wished the detective didn't rush into things so heedlessly.

Tommy noticed the time and knew it was almost that time of day where he shouldn't start walking home, as he happens to go through a pretty bad neighborhood on the way. "Uh… I should probably go."

"You're free to stay here again tonight, Tommy." Angela said.

"No, I should go home."

"Here, I'll drive you." Maura offered, standing up.

"No… I can walk."

"Nonsense, it's on the way and I was planning to get going soon anyway."

He couldn't argue with that. They left not too long after and took the short drive to his place.

As soon as he entered the door he collapsed on the couch. He couldn't get it out of his head that he had basically sent his big sister to face that monster and the same thing would happen to her. No matter how long he laid in his bed, sleep wouldn't come. Eventually, though, his body was too tired to fight it.

"_You're under arrest for raping my brother!" Jane burst through a door, holding up her gun and her badge._

"_Jane Rizzoli! I haven't seen you since you were this little." He held up his hand to his waist to indicate her 10 year old self's height. "It's a shame you're still not that small but I'll take what I can get."_

"_What do you – ?" _

_As if using supernatural powers, he knocked the gun out of Jane's hands. He walked over to her and she was just frozen and couldn't move no matter how hard she tried. _

_She shrunk. Or was he just getting bigger? The room got darker and his eyes glowed red. He grabbed her and she tried to fight back but wasn't strong enough. The room started to spin and he heard her terror soaked screams. Everything got darker and darker and darker..._

He awoke with a yell, drenched with sweat, heart racing, and breathing heavily. He looked around, confused, momentarily forgetting where he was. When his dream came back to him, his heart sunk. He sat there for a few minutes, trying to calm himself but wasn't really succeeding. He got up and went around the apartment, trying to find something to take his mind off it. Unfortunately for him, Jane had left a few bottles of wine in the kitchen and it didn't take too long for him to down it all.

He woke up the next morning in the bathtub hugging a couch cushion. His head felt like it was going to split open but that didn't compare to how bad he felt. Not only was his sister missing because of him but he also broke his sobriety.

Eventually he got himself up, erased the current number of days sober off his whiteboard, replaced it with a zero, and took a shower. After work and his meeting, which were almost impossible to get through with a hangover, he went to see his parents to see if there was anything new on Jane's whereabouts.

There wasn't. Instead, he found his parents, Frankie, and Maura in the middle of wedding chatter.

"You didn't get a lot of sleep." Maura pointed out when she saw him.

"Wha - how can you tell?" He downed more than a dozen cups of coffee to keep himself up. He didn't think anyone could tell.

"Your nasojugal folds are darker than normal."

"And that's doctor speak for…?"

"Dark circles under your eyes."

"Oh." He stated.

After about an hour of talking Angela finally spotted the new ring on her finger. "Maura… what's that?"

She looked down to where Angela was pointing."Oh! I had almost forgotten about that! Jane reproposed and gave me this. I got her one too."

"Aww, how sweet!" She clapped her hands together happily.

Maura smiled at her. She was very grateful to have such great people in her lives now and really started to feel like she found somewhere she belonged.

XXXXX

Later that day, Jane returned with Eric Sage in tow. He was sporting a wicked black eye, a still bleeding lip and, considering the way he was limping, a few broken bones. Given the situation, he was lucky to get away with only that.

"Rizzoli! Where have you been?" Korsak said when she spotted the angry-faced detective.

"Catchin' a monster." She said before yanking him over to an empty interrogation room.

"You have no right! I haven't done anything wrong!" He tried to struggle against Jane's grasp.

She slammed him against a wall before continuing on.

After telling Frost to contact Maura, Korsak followed Jane, worried about what she might do.

Several hours of interrogation later and all they managed to do was get the story leaked to the media. Jane was running out of patience and restraint.

"Why don't you just confess already?" Korsak said. "We all know you did it. And if you wait any longer more people are going to come forward, which only makes the outcome look worse for you." They had already received a few phone calls from adults claiming to have gone through the same thing Tommy did when they were kids.

"Okay, then… I want to make a deal."

"You wanna deal?" Jane asked incredulously. "Okay, how about this? You confess and I don't kill you! Sounds pretty good to me."

"Rizzoli!" Korsak protested. "You can't just threaten him! You're a cop!"

"He raped my brother… I'd say he'd be getting off easy." She turned back to him. "Look, we've already got ten people who have called in and said that you did the same to them. The number's only going to get bigger. There's no way you're walking out of this a free man so why don't you make it easy for everyone and just confess!"

He narrowed her eyes at her. "And how do I know you're not just bluffing?"

Jane slammed her hands on the table and stared him down. "I wasn't kidding about that deal. I _will _kill you if you don't end up in prison."

"Jane!" Korsak yelled. "That's it! You're done here!" He pushed her out where she then went into the room behind the one-way mirror.

"Jane…" Maura reached out. "It's okay, you'll get him."

Jane accepted the offered touch which easily turned into an embrace. "I lost it in there… I know I shouldn't say stuff like that."

"It's a tricky situation…" She reasoned. "You're just being protective."

"I should have just shot him when I first saw him. No one was there. Then we wouldn't have to go through all this crap."

"No, you would never do that. You're too good of a person to do that." She pulled away and tucked an errant piece of hair behind her ear.

"I love how you have that much faith in me… but you have no idea how much I wanted to put a bullet in his head."

"But you didn't. Do I need to remind you of how you almost lost your own life to stop someone? You're not like him, you're not like Hoyt. You're not like any of the hundreds of bad people you've put away. You're _you _and you're an amazing person." She leaned in for a kiss.

Jane pulled away. "I can't… I need to make sure he gets put away."

"Korsak will take care of it. And besides, you need to call your mother."

Jane's face twisted into one of slight fear. "Do I have to?"

"Yes. She's probably worried."

She sighed and pulled out her phone. "Fine." She noticed it was dead and sighed.

Maura offered hers.

"Thanks." She said and then left the room with the phone attached to her ear.

Maura watched her leave and then turned back to the scene in front of her with interest. Things seemed to be going in their favor. Eventually, Jane walked back in.

"We got a confession." She smiled.

"Really?"

"Yep. He was just taken away."

"How'd Korsak manage to get him to do that?"

"He made a deal."

"What!"

Maura nodded. "He gets twenty years for the confession to a couple of the charges."

"Twenty? That bastard should get the death penalty! Or at the very least life!" She definitely needed to have a word with her ex-partner about this.

"Calm down, Jane. He did what he could."

She knew that she was right but didn't like it. She nodded at Maura in acknowledgement.

"What did your mother say?"

"That our party is still on for tomorrow. And that next time I run off I better answer my phone."

"Remember to plug it in first."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

After making sure he was indeed convicted of the crime, Jane was dragged home by Maura.

XXXXX

"Ma! We brought you what you asked for!" Jane yelled out, walking into the Rizzoli household. It seemed to be almost completely decorated for tonight.

"Wow, you all have been busy." Maura noted. "Is there anything we can help with?"

"Yes. Maura, come help me in the kitchen. Jane, see if your father needs any help." Angela answered.

Jane nodded, gave her love a kiss, and then they parted ways.

It didn't take long for everything else to be set up and, soon, they were welcoming their first guests – Frost and Korsak – into the home.

An hour later, the house was filled. Some from the precinct and some from Jane's family. There were also a few unexpected visitors – from the Isles family.

"You must be Jane! I'm Stacey, it's great to meet you!" A short blonde woman grabbed Jane's hand and pumped it up and down excitedly.

"M-Maura!" Jane yelled, shocked at the sudden action. "Who is this person who's trying to rip my arm off?"

"Stacey!" Maura admonished, walking over there. "Sorry about that, Jane. This is Stacey, my cousin and my maid of honor."

"Oh. Hi." She said slowly, briefly recalling hearing that name before.

"Is my daughter causing trouble again?" A hearty laugh came from the man that was joining them.

"No, Daddy." She looked down at the floor as though she was ashamed of her actions, but she wasn't.

"Hi, I'm Richard and this is my wife Debbie." He said as a woman matching his age walked over.

"You're all part of Maura's family?" Jane was stunned. This was a huge contrast from the other meeting just a little less than two months earlier.

"Oh, you must have met my brother." Richard said. "He thinks he's better than everyone and that wife of his only helps to boost his ego."

"Yeah…" Jane responded. "Well I'm glad to know that not everyone in Maura's family is like that."

"They're the outcasts in the Isles family, trust me. In fact, I'm not sure if you heard yet, Maura, but your grandfather will be coming to the wedding. He just couldn't make it down here this weekend."

"Really?" She seemed shocked. Not a lot of her family was at this party so she figured it would be the same at the big event. But hearing that he would be there was very surprising, considering the fact that he wasn't that much unlike her father.

"Yeah. He said he's real happy for you." He smiled at her face, which was fighting to keep back tears of joy at the news. "A lot of the family's looking forward to it."

Jane jumped in, seeing that Maura wasn't really able to talk, she was just too touched by the unexpected support from her family. "That's great! Think we can find a flower girl somewhere in there?"

"Sure! Haven't you met little Lilly yet?"

"No."

"She's over there." He pointed to a little girl, complete with pink dress and pigtails, bouncing around and holding onto her mother's hand.

"And she'd be up to it?"

"She'd be delighted, I assure you."

"And who's that with her?"

"That's my cousin Tiffany and her husband Mark."

Maura furrowed her eyebrows at the unfamiliar names and faces. "So my first cousin once removed? Why is she here? I've never even met her before."

"Oh, but you have. Believe it or not there was a time when your father and I weren't fighting. You were about three when all that started and before then he used to have the family over all the time. Tiff used to love playing with you." He smiled at the fond memories.

"But I've kept in touch with Stacey all these years, how come she never told me any of this?"

He shrugged. "I doubt she really even knew about any of that. She was pretty young when it all happened."

Maura nodded. "That makes sense."

"And I would have told you sooner but I didn't know where you've been hiding all these years – all Stacey had was an email address. And god knows I couldn't ask your folks."

"Yeah." That made sense, and while she wished she previously had this knowledge, she was glad that she had it now. "Well thank you for telling me now."

"No problem, Maura." He smiled. "I'm just glad to see you're doing well."

"You as well." She responded with a grin.

Across the room, Jane stepped up next to her brother. "So who's this one?" She nodded her head towards a woman heading to the bathroom.

"Danielle." He smiled.

"And how sure are you that she's not another one of Hoyt's?" She hadn't heard from that monster in awhile and was starting to wonder why he was being so quiet.

"Pretty sure." He was cautious about even asking her here given his track record with women but he figured they had enough cops around if anything were to happen.

The two talked for a moment more about his date before being interrupted by a beautiful M.E.

"Hey Babe, Frankie." Maura said after kissing Jane on the cheek.

"Babe, really?" Jane looked over at her, amused.

"I was just trying something out." She scrunched up her nose, showing that it wasn't something she'd be calling her on a regular basis. "Am I interrupting something? Important Maid-of-Honor talk?"

"No… we're just talking about the girl Frankie invited here."

"Danielle? She's very nice. Smart too."

"You've talked to her?"

Maura nodded. "Sure. She's head chef at Marliave. We've been there before, remember?"

Jane nodded, recalling being dragged there not too long ago.

"So how'd you meet her?"

"The other day I was out for lunch. So was she. We were just drawn to each other." He smiled goofily.

Jane snorted. "Sure you were, Romeo."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. At least I don't propose to people I've never even dated." He teased.

Maura smiled at the two and then something caught her eye. She looked over and saw something absolutely amazing. Her family and Jane's family were talking, laughing, and getting along famously. It was something she never thought she'd see, especially since her father essentially disowned her.

Frank tapped on the side of his beer bottle with a spoon, effectively interrupting Maura's thoughts. "Can I have everyone's attention please?"

Everyone stopped their conversation and turned towards the normally soft-spoken plumber.

"First of all, I'd like to thank you all for coming today. I know the wedding's not too far off but it was nice to celebrate my daughter's engagement." He looked towards the guests of honor and smiled. "Maura, you've been a part of this family since Jane dragged you to your first gnocchi night and every chance we got to spend time with you only resulted in us falling in love with you more. Obviously Jane took that to a whole new level."

A few laughs emanated from the crowd.

"We're glad to officially welcome you into our family and we hope to spend many, many years getting to know you better. Jane, all I can say is that it's about damn time. We've been waiting years for you to find the one, and, even with your mother's nonstop nagging, you never seemed to. We're so glad you found Maura to share your life with. If everyone will please raise their glass." He raised his and everyone else followed suit. "To the happy couple." He took a drink of his champagne.

"To the happy couple!" Everyone toasted at varying speeds, before taking a sip of their drinks.

"Thanks, Pop." Jane smiled. "Thanks everyone!" She said, trying to cut the toasts off right then and there to be sure her mother didn't get a turn. She wanted to get out of here today, after all.

After a few more bouts of congratulations, people started to trickle out until the party was over.

"Hey, congrats again big Sis." Tommy said, raising his glass of apple cider and then taking a sip. The slip up the other night only made his conviction about his sobriety even stronger and he wasn't going to give up without a fight. "And I really can't thank you enough for helpin' me out. First with the place and then with… him. Even though I may have given you enough reasons not to before."

"We're family, don't forget that. And no need for thanks. That monster should have been put away a long time ago."

Tommy nodded. But he knew the fight against him wasn't over. While the physical bad guy may be in prison, the demons he left behind were still thriving in his mind.

"So I have to ask," Maura started, walking up to Angela. "How did you manage to find all these people from my family? I only gave you Stacy's contact information."

"That's all I needed. I had a little chat with your cousin and things went on from there."

Maura couldn't say she was surprised but she was overwhelmed. She never expected this. She never even thought it was possible.

After helping clean up a bit, Jane and Maura said their final thanks before heading back home for some much needed rest.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry for the wait, the site wouldn't let me post for some reason.

XXXXX

After all the excitement from the previous week, Jane was actually glad to have those boring cold cases to flip through. That lasted for all of an hour before she was searching, yet again, for that elusive song.

About two hours into her search she jumped when a piece of paper landed on her desk. She looked back only to see Maura headed back to the elevators.

She shrugged, carefully unfolded the note, and laughed at what she saw.

_Do you like me?_

_Yes_

_No_

Jane forced herself to not go find Maura and say something to the effect of: 'What are we? In 6th grade?' Instead, she added another option and circled it vigorously, adding a few arrows for effect.

She dropped it on Maura's desk with a look on her face.

Maura gazed upwards. "What? I saw it on television and thought it was cute." She said defensively.

Jane just smiled and kissed Maura on the forehead. "_You're _cute."

Maura unfolded the paper and laughed at the obvious answer: _Hell yes! ;) _

"I would have drawn something to go with it but I have no artistic ability."

She smiled, put down the paper, and walked over to her. "Have I told you I love you today?"

"Hmmm…" Jane seemed to be deep in thought. "Maybe… I don't remember."

"I love you."

Jane's ears caught the sense of urgency in Maura's voice. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothing… it's just – after everything that's happened I'm _really _glad to have you here."

"Same here." Jane brought her into a secure embrace and put her mouth next to Maura's ear. "And I love you too." She whispered.

They stayed like that for several minutes, just drawing comfort from the other's presence, until Jane thought of something.

"So now we have a flower girl," she said, "but what about a ring bearer?"

Maura's smile nearly split her face in two as an idea struck her mind.

"Why am I afraid of what you're going to say?" The detective asked when she saw the look.

"Bass! It's perfect."

Jane laughed. And laughed. And laughed a bit more. "Ba- Bass?" She could hardly spit out the name she was laughing so hard.

"I don't see the problem with it." Maura stated matter-of-factly, bottom lip stuck out in a pout at the thought of her idea being denied.

"Really, Maura? A turt- sorry, tortoise walking down the aisle, two rings taped to his shell?"

"Okay, first of all they wouldn't be taped." Maura said, counting off on her fingers. "And second of all, we'd have someone carry him; he would just be holding the rings."

"Maura, do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound right now?"

"What? Animals have long played parts in weddings – though most of them were gifts to either family. It was only recently that the act was deemed unseemly. Though it's becoming popular again as they are now being increasingly seen as part of the family."

"But… Bass? I mean I would understand Joe but – Maura, a tortoise is a little odd, don't you think?"

"He's family."

"Yeah, the Tee-stud-in-eye-day family." She said slowly, trying to remember all of it, before laughing at her own joke.

"I'm impressed."

"I can Google too."

"Obviously that Googling didn't come with pronunciation. It's _Testudinidae_."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I thought it was funny. But anyway, I'm sure one of us has a cousin that can do this."

"A cousin we have no attachment to? It would carry more meaning for us if either Bass or Joe did it. Or how about both? One for each ring?" She seemed unnaturally excited about this new idea.

The detective sighed. She wasn't getting anywhere with this. "Why don't we think about it?" She might be able to come up with a better argument later.

Maura narrowed her eyes at her, not really wanting to give any leeway on this subject, but conceded anyway. "Fine. We'll think about it."

Jane gave her a kiss before she went back to her desk to get back to her non-work related work. She let a playlist run through her headphones while she looked up information on their honeymoon location. She frowned when she discovered something that put a hinder on their plans. She went back down to autopsy, not really happy about sharing the disappointing news.

"Uh… Maura. You didn't book the honeymoon yet, did you?"

"Of course, why?"

"Well… we should probably cancel."

"Cancel?"

"Well… just find someplace else. I don't think Barbados is such a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Well… unless your ideal vacation view is from inside a prison cell…" She trailed off.

"How do you mean?"

"Maura… it's illegal to be gay in Barbados."

"Gay? But we're not – " She blinked and her face scrunched in confusion before her eyebrows rose in realization. "Huh… I never really thought about it like that. I suppose we _are _in a gay relationship."

"What, really? You just now realized that?"

"Yes. I just see you as someone I love. I've never really thought to label it."

Jane smiled. "Yeah. I just don't understand how loving you could warrant a life sentence in jail."

"Life sentence?"

She shrugged. "That's what the website said. Though I suppose it's better than the death penalty."

Maura frowned at that grim prospect. "I guess we'll have to find another place. I'll cancel our plans now."

"I'm sorry. I know you had your heart set on Barbados."

"It's okay. As long as you're there it'll be a dream, I'm sure."

"So, any ideas on a new location?"

The M.E. shook her head. "I hadn't thought about it."

"You know, it doesn't have to be anything big. We can probably find a nice bed and breakfast nearby that'll work."

Maura shot her a look that told her she wouldn't even consider such a thing.

"Right… sorry." She said before leaving to let Maura take care of the cancellation.

Hours later, work was over and they entered the house. Jane collapsed on the couch. "So what else do we have left? I mean, we still haven't gotten a DJ."

She sat down next to her. "DJ? What makes you think we won't have a live band?"

"More expenses, Maura?"

"Right, then. We'll get a DJ." Though it pained her to do so, she conceded easily. She knew it wouldn't fair well if she kept pushing the issue, as there was no amount of money she could spend to be sure Jane was happy. And that was what really mattered.

Jane was shocked at that instant win. "R-really?" It was a little too easy.

"Yes." She said simply, then looked into her fiancée's eyes. "All I want is for you to be happy and I thought that spending money to create this perfect wedding would achieve that. If I would have known it was exactly the opposite, I would have settled for having it in your parent's backyard."

"You can't be serious." The thought of Maura Isles getting married in such a small and unglamorous area was laughable.

"But I am. And if I didn't already pay the deposit, we would be holding it elsewhere. But I can promise you that I will cut back on the expenses as much as I can."

"Okay… but your happiness matters here too and I know that you want a fancy wedding. I mean, you live for that stuff."

"Maybe before. But now, all I live for is you... well, and science."

Jane couldn't help but smile. "Alright, we don't need to have the most expensive choice out there but I'll trust your judgment on this. After all, you know more about this wedding stuff than I do, right?"

Maura shrugged. "I haven't really read much literature on the topic until after you proposed. I suppose it is likely that I am more knowledgeable though I'm hardly well-versed."

She smiled. "Just don't go too crazy. I do still hope to pay for half."

"Speaking of helping with half… would you like to help me make dinner?" Maura asked, getting up. She extended her hand to help the detective up.

Jane accepted the hand. "Sure."

They made dinner with only one incident of an almost food fight started, of course, by Jane but was expertly diffused by a stare from the M.E., and then sat down to eat. It was a simple pasta dish and they enjoyed it with some wine and honeymoon conversation.

From there Jane took their glasses and the bottle to the couch while Maura put the dishes in the sink.

When she turned to join her, Maura's eyes darkened as they looked over her figure. She was overwhelmed by this intense feeling that she's never had before. It was like a rush of desire that she couldn't control.

"Maura?" Jane asked, noticing the odd behavior as she set the objects on the table.

"I find you absolutely irresistible right now." She breathed, walking over to the detective, her hips sashaying from side to side in an alluring manner.

Jane just stayed where she was, standing in front of the couch about to sit down, and couldn't tear her eyes away.

Maura reached her target destination and moved her hand up, dragging along Jane's torso, until it stopped on her chest. She pushed gently, causing the taller woman to fall backwards and sit on the couch.

The M.E. leaned forward, placing her hands on the couch behind Jane.

Jane gulped, feeling an overwhelming need to touch the woman above her yet unable to move.

Maura laid her knees on either side of Jane's legs and placed her lips against Jane's ear. But she didn't know what to say.

The detective sucked in a breath when she felt Maura's teeth skim along the lobe. Her head spun when Maura's fingers deftly made their way under the white shirt.

Maura gently rubbed the soft skin that she found there. She traced circles, ever slowly inching upward. She stopped at the edge of a brassiere for a moment before slipping a digit under the confines and searched out for a rose-pedaled nub of flesh. As if her thumb was a magic wand, it became hard the instant her thumb ran over it.

Chocolate orbs closed as their owner felt Maura's other hand caress her other breast over her bra. The sensation was so unbelievable that she was wholly convinced she was dreaming.

Soon, their shirts were removed and they silently agreed to continue this in the bedroom.

As soon as they collapsed on the bed, Maura froze, hearing something that made her heart sink.

"Ow!"

"Jane!"

"No, I'm fine… I'm not – I'm not bleeding." She sat up and winced. "It's just a little tender. I shouldn't have landed like that."

Maura's eyes shone with concern and she leaned over to double-check the site.

"Maura, I'm fine. I've been back at work for a while and can chase down bad guys. I'm sure I can tumble around in the sheets with you."

"No, I don't want to risk it."

Jane frowned but respected her wish. With a heavy sigh, she went back into the living room to retrieve their shirts. She put hers on and threw the other one at its owner when she reentered the bedroom.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Maura asked as soon as her shirt was replaced.

"Of course not." She leaned down to kiss the still sitting M.E. before joining her. "You're just looking out for me. How could I be mad at that?"

"Exactly." Maura smiled, glad things were okay.

Since it was late, and they were both pretty tired, they decided to go to bed. Wrapped in each other's arms, they fell asleep instantly.

XXXXX

The next day was odd. It was normal in that they woke up together, showered together, and went to work together but by the time their lunch break rolled around Jane was nowhere to be found. Maura frowned and ate in solitude in her lab, wondering where her love was and why she wasn't answering her phone.

Maura tried interrogating her on the ride home but got extremely vague answers. Despite being slightly worried, she figured the detective had a good reason for being so secretive.

As soon as they got home, Jane bent down to greet Joe, who barked for attention when they stepped in the door. Maura decided to go into their room to freshen up. She wasn't even in there for five minutes when she noticed something amiss.

"Jane! Jane!" Maura called out in a panic.

The detective rushed into their bedroom, gun drawn. "What is it?" She looked around frantically for the perpetrator causing Maura distress but found the M.E. to be the sole occupant of the room.

"I can't find it! It – it's gone!"

"What's gone?"

"My ring!"

Jane spotted the object on her finger and laughed. "Uh… you're wearing it."

"Not that one! I always keep it right in here but now it's gone!" She pointed to an empty spot in her jewelry box.

"Oh." Jane's heart sunk. She had hoped Maura wouldn't have noticed its absence, as it only needed to gone for a few hours. "Well, I'm sure it'll turn up somewhere." She checked her watch and sighed. It should be done by now, if not close to it, and so she should probably get going soon.

"Jane…" Maura said in that tone of voice she couldn't ignore.

She sighed. "Fine, I'll help you look for it." She should have thought about this better, maybe even taken the suggestions her mother had given her.

About an hour later – Maura wouldn't let her leave any sooner – she finally got away and made her way to her parent's house.

"Jane, what took you so long?" Angela asked, expecting her here much earlier.

"She noticed it was missing. I couldn't just leave without helping her look for it."

Angela laughed. "I told you, you should have put another one in its place."

Jane just shrugged. "Is it ready yet?"

"Yep. Been dry for awhile now."

"Wow." She popped the clear object out of the mold and inspected it before placing it in a box. "This turned out great."

"Yep. And you're sure I can't go with you?" She was dying to see how Maura reacted to it.

"Yes, I'm sure. Stay here."

"Okay." Angela frowned. "Just be sure to call me after."

"Maybe." Jane waved her off and bid her parents farewell before eagerly racing towards the home she shared with Maura.

During the drive she reflected on the past month. So much had happened. And there was just so much she was grateful for. If Bobby wasn't dead she would seriously consider going down to prison to thank him. None of this would have happened if he didn't decide to take over the police station.

After a last minute decision to stop off at a local flower shop for some roses, she pulled into the driveway.

She entered the house and saw Maura sitting on the couch.

"Hey Maura!" She greeted.

"So, what? Did you do something you regret?" She asked, spotting the flowers. Coupled with the odd behavior from earlier and she was a little skeptical of accepting them.

"What? No, I brought these just because. And, well… I also have something I want to give you." She got a vase for the flowers before handing Maura the box and sitting down to watch her reaction.

Maura opened the box to find her twist tie ring encased in a clear resin heart. Tears sprang to her eyes and her heart swelled.

"Yeah… I made it." Jane admitted, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "I hope you don't think it's too dorky."

"No, Jane… It's really sweet." Maura looked like she was going to bubble over with affection. "Thank you." She wrapped her arms around the detective and placed a light kiss upon her lips.

"Now you can keep it forever." Jane said when they pulled away. "See, it's made out of resin… so the twist tie will stay that way for awhile."

Maura nodded. "Most likely poly methyl methacrylate, it's a very effective and durable material that can be used to replace glass, though it has _many _other uses. The process of how it forms is very fascinating."

"You know, I used to think that was annoying. Now I love it."

"What? Polymerization?" She asked, confused. How one could find a chemical process annoying she didn't know.

She laughed. "No. You and your Google-talk."

The M.E. frowned. "You thought it was annoying?"

Jane leaned forward and kissed the frown, causing it to automatically turn into a smile. "More like it gave me a headache. But I've learned to just tune out the words and just listen to your voice."

"You'll never learn that way, you know."

Jane shrugged. "Why do I need to learn anything when I've got you? My own personal walking encyclopedia." She smiled and pressed a kiss to the M.E.'s cheek and, at the same time, giving her a sideways hug.

Maura accepted the affection gleefully before returning it tenfold. After her kissing efforts were concluded, she fiddled with the heart-shaped object. "So this is why you left? And I made you help me look for it? Why didn't you say anything?"

"What was I supposed to say? 'Sorry Maura, I took it so I can surprise you'?"

"Hmm… yes, I suppose that wouldn't quite work."

"And that's why I was gone at lunch, if you were wondering. I didn't answer my phone because I didn't feel like lying to you."

"Well thank you for that. Strange as it may seem, I feel that being ignored is far less abhorrent than being lied to."

"Says the only person in the world who _can't _lie."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I was just saying."

Maura spent the next few minutes inspecting her new treasure and going around the house to figure out where it would be best placed. She eventually found its home on the fireplace mantle overlooking the living room. She figured she would have to do something else with it eventually but it was fine there for right now.

She rejoined Jane in their bedroom where she fell into her arms. They spent the next few hours kissing and running their hands over clothed bodies until they were too tired to do much more.

After an uneventful day at work the next day, the two got ready for Jane's reunion. Not surprisingly, she protested the whole time.

"You ready to go?" Maura asked, standing by the door. She had to

"If I have to…" She sighed, hoping it wouldn't be as bad as she always thought it would be.


	12. Chapter 12

They entered the gym. Jane was wary. She gripped Maura's hand just a little tighter and pulled her in just a little closer. She had missed the last reunion for a reason: she vowed never to come back here again.

They signed in and Jane got a nametag with her senior year photo on it.

"That's what you looked like in high school? I've only seen the baby photos." Maura said, smiling at the picture.

"I know… I looked dorky." She was tempted to hide the picture.

"No… it's cute…" She laughed and then saw the look on Jane's face. "Okay… it's a little dorky." She conceded.

They went and chatted with a few people before Jane heard the voice of someone she was hoping to avoid for a large part of the evening.

"Well if it isn't Frog Face."

"Shut it, Grant."

He ignored that. "And…Maura? Couldn't find a real date? You had to drag her down here?"

"She _is_ my date. My fiancée, actually."

He laughed. "Alright, I deserved that."

"She wasn't kidding." Maura said, showing the man her ring.

"Wha-? How?" He was stunned to say the least.

"I proposed to her, she said yes. Not that complicated." He was starting to wear on her nerves. She _really _didn't want to be here.

"When did this happen?"

"A couple months ago." Maura answered for Jane. "After that incident at the station."

"Oh, yeah. I heard about that." His look turned to one of concern. "Everyone's okay, right?"

Maura shook her head. "A couple of people died and some were hospitalized, including Jane and Frankie."

"Really? Wow." Everything seemed to happen when he was gone. He wasn't sure if he was glad to be out of the death trap that workplace happened to be. Either way, he was happy that the two of them got out of it alive even if there were others who didn't.

They chatted for a few minutes, Jane doing her best to ignore him and his teasing. Normally she would be able to throw some playful jests back but she was still not too happy about being here.

"Jane," Maura said, sensing her fiancée's discomfort. "Why don't you go test the punch."

"Sure thing." She chimed, grateful for the escape.

The detective quickly made her way over to the refreshments table and grabbed a cup. She dipped the ladle in and poured it in her cup. She gave it a couple wary sniffs before taking a sip.

"Jane Rizzoli? Is that you?" A grating, high-pitch voice sounded from behind her.

"Hey! Maggie Brown!" She plastered on a smile and faced her.

"Oh! Or is it not Rizzoli anymore?" She asked, spotting the ring.

"Nope… it's still Rizzoli." That brought a question to her mind. Were they going to keep their names? She couldn't ponder it for much longer when more chatter spewed out of her mouth.

"Oh? So you're engaged? Hmm… let me guess… Joey Grant?" She pointed at the man who was currently talking to Maura.

"No. Well, I am engaged but not to him. And what about you? Still scaring off every guy you meet?"

Maggie narrowed her eyes at her as she hid her ringless hand behind her back. "No…" She mumbled. "But anyway, your fiancé couldn't make it here tonight?" He was no doubt some pathetic loser, Maggie thought. There was no way Roly-Poly Rizzoli turned out better than her.

"No, she's right over there."

"She?" Maggie turned to where she was pointing. "Emily Davis? You're engaged to the prom queen?" She asked incredulously.

Jane snorted. "No. Past her. Talking to Grant."

"You're kidding." Even she could acknowledge the fact that the woman was gorgeous. Damn, looked like Jane was winning so far.

"Nope. That's my Maura." Jane beamed.

"Congrats, then." She replied curtly.

"Thanks." Huh, it looked like Maura might be right. This could turn out to be fun after all.

They chatted for a few minutes about the past when Maura came up to them. "Hey Jane! Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"Of course. Maura, this is Maggie. Maggie, Maura."

"Nice to meet you." Maggie said unenthusiastically as they shook hands.

"You as well."

"So Jane was just telling me you two are engaged." She asked, hoping this was something Jane was lying about.

"Yep!" She showed her ring as proof.

"How… great!" Her tone, and facial expression, gave away her displeasure. Looking for a way out, she spotted one of her old boyfriends. "Oh, look, there's Adam! I should go say hi! Great catching up with you!" She could barely keep back her eye roll before she ran off.

Maura turned to Jane. "I sensed some animosity there. What happened between you two?"

"Simply put: we were arch-enemies. I didn't let her cheat off my papers and she started spreading rumors and creating horrible nicknames."

After catching up with more of her classmates, and downing a few glasses of punch that was no doubt spiked, Jane eased up. Eventually, she actually dragged Maura out to the dance floor.

"C'mon, Maura, do it with me!" She shouted as she started to do the electric slide. Her movements weren't as well choreographed as much as they were just a mass of flailing limbs.

Maura looked on, amused yet slightly embarrassed for her. Her amused look turned horrified, however, when Jane dragged her out there with her.

"Jane? How much punch have you had?" She asked as her body was forced from side to side, as Jane had taken a hold of her hands and was twisting her body back and forth.

"Only a few glasses…"

"A few?" Maura questioned. Normally she would do anything in her power to get out of such a position, especially considering they were being stared at, but for some reason she felt okay. More than okay, actually. She was having fun.

A few dances in and Jane began to sober up. People in the room began to pair off as a slow song started.

Maura's arms went around Jane's neck while Jane's hands went to Maura's waist. Their eyes met and their soft stares allowed everything else to fade into the background as they gently swayed to the music.

"You know what I just realized?" Jane said suddenly.

"What?"

"This is the first time we've danced together."

Maura smiled as she tenderly caressed the back of Jane's neck. "It is."

A few dances later and the music stopped as someone went up to the stage.

"Hello. I want to thank everyone for coming here tonight. We've tallied your votes and now we're ready to give out the awards. And to read off the names is your very own Prom Queen: Emily Davis!" The head of the committee that organized the reunion said into the microphone.

A few moments passed and everyone in the room realized that no one was going up there.

"Emily?"

A loud scream caused everyone to look to the doors that were slamming open. A woman was covered in blood and crying hysterically. "It's Emily… she's dead!"

Jane took action, running up to the woman. "Where? Where is she?"

"B-bathroom." She looked just about ready to collapse.

"Maura!" Jane called out, but she was headed over there anyway.

"Hey, wait, who made you in charge?" A nearby man asked, causing the duo to stop in their tracks.

"Homicide detective." She flashed her badge and took off towards the nearest bathroom – the one she presumed held the deceased. Maura followed closely.

"I'm coming with you!" Grant called out and then ran to catch up.

Jane took out her phone and dialed her partner. "Frost, we're gonna need a car down here. And Maura's supplies."

She hung up and entered the room. They immediately noticed the familiar pungent and acrid smell of death permeating the room. She saw her former classmate in the corner, torso slashed open and blood still seeping from the wound. The body was still warm – she was killed only moments before.

"Whoever did this might still be here. Grant, make sure no one leaves."

He nodded and left the room.

Maura leaned down to examine it, a few moments later she spoke. "Wow. I haven't seen this since my graduate work."

"What is it?"

"And the accuracy is exquisite."

"Maura!"

"Oh, sorry. Aztec heart extraction. You cut below the ribcage and then reach up and grab the heart. It's very effective."

"Maura," Jane whined. "You know I hate it when you compliment the murderers."

"Sorry." Maura said sheepishly. "I just admire their technique."

She rolled her eyes. "Got anything else? Time of death?"

"Well… I can't be precise but I'd say sometime in the last thirty minutes. She was probably killed just moments before she was found."

"What? Really?"

"Yes, Jane. She's still warm and has no hint of decomposition." She stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So it had to be someone here…" She thought for a moment. "Maura, stay with the body, I need to help Grant."

Maura nodded. She watched Jane leave before getting back to examining the handiwork on the body.

Out in the gym, Jane flashed her badge again. "Nobody's leaving!" She turned to Grant. "Do you know if everyone is accounted for?"

He shrugged. "I didn't see anyone leave. As far as I know everyone is in here. Except the dead girl."

Jane nodded. "Well have to wait for back-up. We can't do anything without it, there's too many people here."

"Yeah." He agreed.

They kept watch over the exits until they heard sirens. Officers took over the duty of watching the suspects while the detectives split up the responsibilities of interrogation, finding a few open classrooms free to do so.

Hours later and they came up with three prime suspects. They had no alibi for the time period before the killing, as they weren't in the gym then.

"Alright. Then everyone except you three are free to go." She pointed to two men and a woman standing by the officers.

"What? I didn't do anything!" One of the men – Jack Wilson, Jane remembered – shouted. "Just because I was using the bathroom!"

"Quiet down. You're a murder suspect, you idiot!" The woman who had found the decedent – Katie Richards – said.

"Yeah. You'll make us all look bad." Carter Webb – the third suspect – added.

With slight protest by Jack, the three were dragged down to the station for further interrogation, where they could make use of police resources.

"What was your relationship to Emily?" She asked Jack, the last person to be questioned.

He took a moment before answering. "We dated in high school. That's it. I haven't even seen her since then."

Well, she knew that first part already. "Right. So did she break your heart?"

"What? No! I know what you're thinking. I've seen those cop shows. I didn't kill her!"

"You expect me to believe that?" Jane asked forcefully.

"Yes! Because I didn't do it!"

Jane put her hand on her temple and sighed before going to meet with the others in the room behind the mirror.

"He seemed to be telling the truth." Maura said, trying to be helpful.

"I know." She sighed. "I thought this would be an open and shut case but no one seems to be the obvious killer."

Unfortunately, they didn't find anything they could hold any of the suspects on so they had to let them go.

Over the next few days, any wedding planning seemed to be put on hold – they even needed to push back their first dress fitting. Some details were hashed out on their way to and from work but any free time they had was spent trying to find the killer of Jane's old classmate. They had already gone through the list of people that had been invited to the reunion at least a dozen times and through lists of people the victim knew personally a dozen more. They were hitting a brick wall.

"I got nothing, Rizzoli. You?" Korsak asked, taking a seat in his desk.

"Not any closer than before."

"And Maura?"

"No evidence left on the body. She said it was incredible, that such a violent attack should have left something of the culprit."

"Guy musta been careful."

"Forget careful, he would have had to wear a full body suit." Jane was aggravated. Why did one of _these _cases have to happen now? She wished she was in a TV show and the case would be closed within the hour.

"We'll find something." The older detective assured. "There's no way someone can kill someone and not slip up somewhere."

Jane nodded, hoping he was right.

Hours into checking on the alibis of those who didn't show up and Jane finally found something.

"Really? No record of him at all?" Jane was beaming. Sounds like they might have finally gotten lucky. "Thanks for the help."

Korsak and Frost had looked up at the giddiness in her voice.

"Anthony Darby. His alibi doesn't check out." She said when she saw their curious gazes. She typed his name into the database to bring his file back up. She jotted down his address and headed out with Frost, running into Maura on the way.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Gotta lead on the case."

"Ooh, can I come?"

Jane raised an eyebrow at her. "It would be safer if you didn't."

Maura frowned, a pout starting to form. "Please?"

"Fine." She couldn't resist that look and hoped she wouldn't regret it later.

They arrived at his residence and decided to stay in the car and wait for him to come to them; it was a lot easier that way. A few minutes in, Jane spoke up.

"Hey, Maura… I was wondering something."

"Yes?"

"Are we going to keep our names?"

"Hmm… I hadn't thought about that. I suppose so."

"What? Don't want to be known as Maura Rizzoli?" Jane joked.

"Well… we could always combine our last names. It's not very common but it does happen. Hmm… Isloli? Rizzles?" She tried the different combinations but none of them sounded right.

Jane thought for a moment before it came to her. "Well, what about hyphens?"

Maura considered it for a few seconds. "Good idea. But I want your name to come first."

"Why's that?"

"I feel like I belong more to your family than mine. It just seems right."

Jane smiled. "Alright then, Maura Rizzoli-Isles. Kind of a mouthful though, isn't it?"

Maura shrugged. "There have been longer names."

"Yeah…" She nodded. "I kind of like it. Jane Rizzoli-Isles." She smiled, loving the way the name rolled off the tongue.

Suddenly, Maura jumped up. "There he is!" She yelled, much too loudly for a supposedly stealthy stakeout, while pointing at a man exiting an apartment complex. Luckily he didn't turn around.

"Alright, now stay in the car." Jane said, getting out. Frost, in a car across the street, did the same.

That directive lasted for about three seconds.

"Anthony Darby, you are under arrest for the murder of Emily Davis." She flashed her badge and kept her hand over her gun.

"What? I didn't do nothing."

"That's grammatically incorrect and implies that you did, in fact, do something."

"I didn't know you guys were the grammar police." He laughed.

"Maura? I thought I told you to stay in the car!" Jane admonished.

"I thought you might require my assistance."

"Well I don't! In fact, it'd be a lot easier if I didn't have to worry about you too." She yelled, trying to move in closer to the guy.

Anthony tried to take advantage of this dispute and looked around, trying to decide if it was possible to get away. He spotted Frost moving in on his side and growled under his breath.

When Jane saw he was looking for an escape route, she drew her gun. "Don't move!"

He jumped forward and seized Maura – seeing that she was unarmed – and held her around the waist, effectively pinning her arms at her sides.

"Shoot me and risk killing her!" He shouted.

Jane froze in fear at the thought of him doing anything to Maura. She knew it was a bad idea for the doctor to accompany her. Now maybe next time she'll listen. All and any thoughts of how to get out of this without any harm coming to her love were cut off by a surprising sight.

Maura lifted her leg and slammed her foot down on the man's instep before reaching back and hitting him in a much more sensitive place. When that wasn't enough for him to release his hold she knocked her head back and bashed him in the nose, causing his eyes to water and his grasp to weaken enough for her to scramble forward and seek safety behind Jane.

"Jesus, Maura, were you some kind of special agent in a past life?" Jane asked in astonishment.

"Don't be ridiculous, Jane." Maura laughed. "But I suggest you handcuff him before he decides to run for it."

"Right." Jane said, still shaking her head in disbelief. She moved forward quickly, yanked his hand from his face and the other that was holding his groin, and forced them behind his back. She attached the cuffs and pushed him towards the cruiser, all the while reading him his rights. Soon they were on their way back to the station, happy that yet another murderer was off the streets.

"So… uh… where did you learn that?" Jane asked when they were about halfway there.

Maura shrugged. "Perhaps I did pick something up in that mandatory self-defense class at boarding school after all."

Jane just laughed. Why wasn't she surprised?

When they were a few blocks away from the station, Maura's curiosity got the better of her. She turned around in her seat to face the suspect. "What made you choose that technique?"

"Maura!"

"What? It was extremely accurate and an unusual thing to find at a murder scene!"

Anthony just smiled, choosing to stay quiet the rest of the way there and during most of the interrogation.

About an hour into it, however, he finally broke. He confessed everything and even explained how he managed to do it.

"I just don't get why. Why'd you kill her?" Jane remembered Emily and as far as popular girls went she was uncharacteristically nice.

"She ruined my life!" He yelled. "She made me fall in love with her and then, when I asked her to prom, she just rejected me! I had to get revenge!"

"But that was in high school… why did you decide now would be the time to kill her?"

"Oh, I would have done it sooner but I couldn't find her. Trust me, I searched high and low for that bitch and when I heard there was a reunion coming up I knew I would finally get her back. There was no way miss prom queen would miss it. And I was right."

Jane just shook her head. She would never understand the mentality of these people no matter how many she put away.

She opened the door and motioned for two officers to come in. They took him to what would be what he would call home for the rest of his life.

When the weekend finally came, Jane couldn't be happier. All she wanted to do was relax. But she couldn't as they had far too many things to do.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Happy Fourth of July to anyone that celebrates it!

XXXXX

Hours into her search she took to lying on the couch, head resting atop her folded hands and headphones snug on her ears, while a love song playlist was going. Every once in awhile she reached over and jotted something down on her ever expanding list of maybes but she hadn't found anything definite. Things were starting to look hopeless and she wondered if she would ever find the perfect song.

Even though some of the songs were duplicates – she couldn't count how many times she heard Michael Bublé's "Everything" – she didn't skip any song, just in case one of them grew on her or she heard something she didn't catch the first hundred times around.

When the next song came on she was met with a few bars of instrumental music. The woman began to sing and Jane's eyes couldn't help but open. As she continued to listen, she smiled and it only grew wider.

A line in the song made her head lift up and she stared blankly ahead in wonder and astonishment. She was reminded of when she proposed and how she felt in that moment. As the song continued on she couldn't believe how well the lyrics fit and that they were presented with such an amazing voice paired with a wonderful melody.

The thirty second instrumental interlude allowed her to think. While the song wasn't the best choice for how they were now it fit the moment everything changed – the most important one of her life – perfectly. It was like – up until then – she had only been looking at the M.E. That was the first time she really _saw _her.

If Maura's point of view was anything like hers it was perfect. That gunshot caused her eyes to open to what she's been missing for so long. It was the catalyst needed for a spotlight to shine on her true feelings and for realization to finally set in.

Once the accompanying male singer started, there was no question she had found their song. The lyrics were amazing and the tune, catchy as it may have been, was heartfelt and expressed emotion so deeply she didn't know how she never heard it before.

She was taken back to that hospital bed, seeing Maura there next to her and feeling the comfort from her touch. It was – like the song said – as if a fog was lifted and caused her whole world to shift suddenly in an amazingly fantastical way.

As soon as the two voices joined together, she got chills. Goosebumps began to spread throughout her entire body. She couldn't wait to share the good news.

When the song nearly ended she paused the video to get the song title before it skipped to the next one in the playlist. She frowned, seeing where it was from. It seemed a little cheesy now and, to be quite honest, didn't quite feel appropriate for a Rizzoli-Isles wedding.

But, still, if this song had started playing during Maura's first hospital visit it would fit it perfectly. When she woke up and saw Maura sitting beside she knew that this is where she was supposed to be. The song was too beautiful and… well, perfect… to ignore. It just felt so right. She decided to find a way to play it to Maura and see her reaction. Unfortunately, the M.E. was meeting with a possible DJ so she would have to wait until later.

She replayed the song and an idea struck her. She would surprise Maura. She could set up a nice dinner beforehand to set the mood and then play it for her. As soon as she got up to start on it, however, the hazel-eyed doctor walked in the door.

"Hey, Jane! Good news, we have a DJ." She smiled.

"That's great!"

"Why do you seem disappointed?"

"I'm not… I was just…" She pointed behind her at nothing in particular and then shook her head. "Never mind."

Maura looked at her oddly for a moment before walking over to Jane and giving her a kiss. "How was your day?"

She shrugged. "You know… nothing special."

XXXXX

That Tuesday, after dropping off the invitations at the post office, they went back to John's boutique for their fittings. One at a time they were brought back. Maura was first.

She stepped into her gown. It fit like a glove, not surprising since he's made so many of her dresses in the past.

She stood in front of the mirror and smiled at the demure, full-length, white lace dress that draped her figure. The top layer of the strapless dress was partially see-through except for lacy leaf shaped bits of fabric while the bottom layer was a light fabric, slightly darker than the top, creating a stunning effect.

"You are a genius, my friend." She said, turning around to see it from every angle before facing him.

"I do what I can."

"So what does Jane's look like?"

"Uh-uh-uh." He clucked, waggling his finger at her. "You know the rules. You don't get to see your bride in her dress until the big day. Which means you're not getting a single detail from me."

She shrugged. "I tried."

It took a bit longer to get out of the dress than it did to get in but eventually it was off and in its proper place.

"Your turn." Maura chimed when she entered the other room.

"Lucky me." Jane mumbled. This wasn't her favorite activity, to say the least.

Her dress was much simpler than Maura's. It was just a white dress that went straight down. No ruffles, no lace, just beautiful simplicity. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she was stunned.

"John… this is – this is amazing."

"Thank you, my dear." He had a feeling that she wasn't one to gush over a dress and felt especially honored.

They only needed to fix a few things and, with a promise to him about not dishing the details of the dress to her fiancée, Jane disrobed and got back into her street clothes.

"So? It wasn't that bad, was it?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. He's _really _good."

"I told you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

They grabbed some food before they went home and spent some much needed alone time in each other's arms.

The next day Maura had to stay late to do an autopsy on a man with uncertainty surrounding his death. Jane rushed home to get started on dinner and, several hours later, everything was ready.

"Jane?" Maura called out in confusion when she stepped into the dim house – the only source of light came from two candles on the table.

Said woman came out of their bedroom with a smile. "Hey Maura! How was work?

"It was… okay. What's going on?"

Jane didn't say anything. She just went up to Maura and kissed her gently before shooing her into their room with instructions to dress up.

Several minutes later the M.E. emerged, questioning look still on her face.

"What? Can't I just randomly surprise you and make you dinner?"

Maura smiled. "Of course. But since you haven't done it in the past…"

Jane rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. It's not like we've been married for fifteen years and this is the first time I've done it."

"I know. It's sweet, thank you." She gave her love a peck on the cheek.

Jane grinned and then held out a chair for Maura to sit in. She followed suit in the chair across from her.

Dinner was simple: chicken breast and rice paired with some nice red wine. It wasn't fancy and, to be quite honest, didn't taste that great but it was edible.

"Maybe next time you should let your mother do the cooking." Maura said as gently as she could. "Or just get takeout."

Jane nodded in agreement. It wasn't as easy as she thought it would be and her whole time in the kitchen was spent wishing she had been paid more attention to her mother's cooking lessons when she was younger. Instead, she settled on a video on the Food Network site to get her through.

They ate a bit more, if only to curb their hunger, before Jane instructed Maura to stay put. She pulled up the song on the computer. "I think I found our song," she said before pressing play and extending her hand to the M.E.

They swayed gently to the music. Maura was listening intently while Jane's eyes were focused on Maura's expression. It didn't take long for her to take on a smile quite similar to the one on Jane's face only days ago.

When the song ended, Maura could only shake her head in disbelief. "I can't believe it. It's perfect."

"You're sure? Because look at what it's from." She pointed to the screen.

"Where it's from doesn't matter, Jane. It's perfect."

Jane beamed. "Great! I'm glad you think so too!"

"I just can't wait to dance with you to that in front of everybody. I'll get started on choreography as soon as I can."

That caused her motions to still and her smile to falter. "Choreography?"

"Of course, Jane. You don't expect us to go out there and wing it, do you?"

"No… but how hard can swaying be? We were doing just fine a few minutes ago."

"You didn't think that that's all our dance will consist of, do you?" Her tone said it all: 'Silly Jane!'

"Yeah…"

She saw the look of unease on her face. "Don't worry. It won't be something complicated. Just something with a few dips and turns."

"Even so, with my dancing skills I'll probably drop you."

Maura laughed. "I'll be sure to let Stacey know to follow us with a cushion."

"This is your way of telling me to calm down and that everything is going to work out, isn't it?"

"You catch on quick." She smiled and placed a quick kiss on her lips.

XXXXX

Thanksgiving came and the two crime fighters pulled up to the Rizzoli residence. Seeing Frankie's car there they figured they were the last ones to arrive. It wasn't surprising considering how long it took Maura to get ready.

Entering the house brandishing pie, the two were greeted by three Rizzoli men watching the game. Jane joined them while Maura took the dessert into the kitchen.

"You didn't have to bring that, I've made plenty." Angela said, taking the apple treat from the M.E.'s hands.

"I know but we wanted to. It's considered rude for a guest to show up empty handed."

"Oh, you're not a guest, dear. You're family. There's a difference." She laughed and then recruited her help for the remainder of the cooking.

"Go, go, go, go!" They heard from the other room. The Lions were playing the Patriots. It was nearing halftime and their team was down by eleven. "Yes!" Well, now only four.

Maura was smiling as she stirred.

"I know mixing potatoes isn't that fun. What's that smile for?"

"Just… them." She motioned her head towards the living room. "I know it might seem odd but I really enjoy hearing her just… being her."

"It's not odd. It's love." Angela grinned.

"It's just… I've never felt like this before. About anyone. I'm absolutely elated just hearing her voice. And when I wake up before her and can see her looking so peaceful. It's amazing."

"Well… I know I've said it before but I'll say it again. I am so glad you two found each other."

"Same here." Maura handed off the completed mixture to the older woman and shifted her attention to chopping.

Soon, the half ended with a field goal by the Lions, making them seven points ahead and the audience in the room unhappy.

When Kid Rock started to sing, Jane got up to see what the others were up to. She snuck up behind Maura and stuck her finger in the stuffings and then in her mouth, resulting in a disgusted face.

The M.E. laughed. "That's what you get when you don't let it cook first."

"I do the same thing every year, you'd think I would learn." She said with a wink and a laugh. She helped them for a couple of minutes until she heard Frankie yelling from the living room.

"Game's back on!"

With a kiss on the cheek to both chefs, Jane left the room.

The second half of the game was dominated by the Patriots scoring thirty-five more points versus the Lions' seven. In the end there was a clear winner – and a cheering Rizzoli family.

The minute the game was over, everyone was ushered over to the table. As per Rizzoli family tradition, they went around in a circle to say what they were thankful for. Frank, as he was at the head of the table, went first.

"I'm thankful that my children are doing well or are on their way to it." It wasn't much, as was usual for him, but it got the point across.

Now it was Jane's turn. "I'm thankful for you, Maura. I never thought I'd ever have someone like you in my life and, now that I do, I don't think I can live without you. And I'm thankful for having a family like this one. Even if you don't support me with everything," she said, shooting a pointed look at her mother, "you are so loving and I am so grateful."

Everyone smiled at her and then shifted their gaze to Maura.

"I am so thankful for having all of you in my life. I never thought that what would essentially become my second adoptive family would turn out to be so great, especially since I've never really had much luck in that area."

Angela perked up. "I'm thankful that all my kids are safe and happy and that my Janey is _finally _getting married." Jane rolled her eyes at that. "And I am so happy that we are all here to celebrate this day."

Tommy took a moment to think. "I am thankful for my family, especially Ma who never gave up on me and kept giving me chances and never stopped believing in me. I'm also thankful for the fact that I'm finally getting better with both my bad habits and my bad past."

Frankie cleared his throat. "I'm just thankful to be alive. I knew my chances were slim when I took off that vest and saw all those bruises and if it weren't for Maura I wouldn't be sitting here. Maura, every day I am thankful for you and what you've given to this family. I don't think there are really any words to completely say what I want to."

"Thank you, Frankie. You said it just fine." She smiled, teary-eyed, at her soon to be brother-in-law.

And with that they dug in. Not surprisingly, it was delicious and it didn't take long for them to commend Angela for it.

But no matter how good the food it their stomachs were only so big. It didn't take too long for them to get completely filled.

They headed to the living room to catch the last half of the Cowboys and Saints game while they digested the meal. By the end of the game they were ready for pie.

"I don't think I can eat anymore." Jane groaned. "I think I'm going into a food coma."

"Not yet," Maura warned. "You're making it to our house on your own two feet."

"Then we should get going soon. I'm exhausted."

"Here, let me pack up some leftovers for you, then." Angela said before hurrying into the kitchen.

Tupperware in hand, the two tiredly left the home and headed into the cold Boston night.

XXXXX

They stayed in that weekend and Maura attempted to create a simple dance to go along with the song. It was harder than it had to be. Not just trying to get Jane to control her movements but for Maura to control her urges. Every time she looked at the detective she wanted so badly to do more than just kiss but she was still hesitant based on what happened last time. She knew that Jane was fine and that nothing would open up the wound except for a knife but she was still overly cautious.

Jane, tired from all the dip and twirl practicing, was sitting on the couch. They were done for the day as far as dancing went.

"Have you started on your vows yet?" Maura asked, sitting next to her.

Jane's head snapped up, a panicky expression on her face. "We- we're writing our own vows?"

"Yes. I thought we discussed this." Her brows furrowed as she thought back to that conversation she swore they had.

"No… at least, not that I remember."

"Oh… That must have just been a very vivid dream then."

"A dream? Right…" Jane said before getting up and looking for some paper. Looks like she had something new to worry about.

In between finalizing some wedding details, namely the menu and their rings, Jane worked on her vows. She wasn't all that good with words but she hoped she would be able to put to paper how she felt about the doctor… or at least get close.


	14. Chapter 14

"A picnic? You do realize it's snowing outside, right?" Maura asked incredulously.

"Yes. Come on! We dress warmly; grab a blanket and some hot chocolate. It'll be fun." She had gotten the idea from a website the other day and it looked like fun.

Maura couldn't deny the look on her face. "Fine." She said, humoring her.

They got their things together and took off towards the nearest park where they set up their blanket on a patch of fresh snow. They were surrounded by icicle adorned trees and a light snowfall.

They took out two large thermoses and a spoon. Cuddled up close, they fed one another macaroni and cheese and drank hot chocolate. It was a nice break from all the wedding planning and they settled in comfortably.

Maura looked over at Jane in adoration. "Ich Liebe Dich."

She blinked in confusion. "Uh… gesundheit?"

The M.E. just smiled and tried again. "Je t'aime."

Jane's face stayed in its befuddled state.

"Te quiero."

Her face lit up with recognition. "Oh…" She smiled. "I love you too."

She looked at her curiously. "You know Spanish?"

"Not really. But I had to pick up _something _in high school Spanish class, right?"

Maura laughed.

"What were those other languages?"

"German and French."

"You never cease to amaze me. How many others do you know?"

"Well… I'm not really _fluent _in anything other than English."

"Yet you can still speak them." She wasn't convinced.

"Well, when you spend quite a bit of your childhood in Europe you pick up a few things."

Jane just nodded and took a sip of hot chocolate. "Want some more?" Jane asked, brandishing the thermos.

"No thank you. I think I'm plenty warmed up now." She smiled and snuggled up further against her. "This was a very good idea."

"Told you." She teased as she rubbed Maura's arm lovingly before she placed a kiss on her temple.

Maura pulled away just long enough to land an affectionate kiss on the other woman's lips.

"Hey! What the hell is wrong with you!" An older woman yelled like a maniac as she walked in their direction.

Jane looked behind them, thinking her anger was directed that way. There was no one there.

"Do you not realize there are kids in this park!" She stopped at the edge of their blanket and stared them down with a glare that's fierceness rivaled a category five hurricane.

"What? We weren't even doing anything!" Jane protested. What was this lady's problem?

"Not doing anything? You're flaunting yourself in front of impressionable minds! It's disgusting and you have no right!"

"No right?" Jane stood up. "Listen lady, I don't know what your problem is but I suggest you start walking away."

She laughed. "And what are you going to do about it?"

"Jane." Maura said, standing up and placing her hand on the detective's arm when she saw her fist clench.

"Nothing. I'm not going to do anything." She calmed herself and sat back down before bringing the drink thermos back to her mouth, hoping the woman would just go away.

She didn't. "I'm not going anywhere until I know you're gone."

Maura sighed. "You know, if you keep this up you could be arrested for disorderly conduct."

"By who! I don't see any cops around!"

"Maybe not in uniform." She countered.

"What? You telling me you're cops?" She laughed haughtily.

"Jane."

Said woman held her badge up, not saying a word.

"Ha! Now I have your badge number! I'll just get you fired!" She walked away, mumbling the number over and over again to try and remember it.

"What just happened?" Jane asked as she put her badge back.

Maura just shrugged. "She obviously had a problem with us."

"You think?" She laughed. "I just hate to be on the other end of that phone call."

Maura's face took on a bit of worry. "She can't actually get you fired, can she?"

"For what? Having a picnic with my fiancée? I'd like to see her try." Then she laughed, thinking of something. "You know what? We should have just gotten up and played baseball with those kids over there. Just to tick her off."

The M.E. laughed along with her and then they continued on with their after-picnic cuddles. They laid together comfortably, on a blanket in the snow, until Jane's phone rang.

"Rizzoli." She answered with a grumble.

"Hey, we just got a very strange visit." Korsak said.

"Oh really?" She asked, amused.

"Yeah…some lady was screaming your badge number and that you needed to be fired. Know anything about that?"

"I might have a clue." She said with a slight laugh.

"This isn't funny, Rizzoli. She said you were endangering kids and then threatened to arrest her when she tried to stop you."

"Relax, Korsak. She saw me an' Maura having a picnic and didn't appreciate the fact that we were being affectionate near some kids."

"And by affectionate you mean…?"

She rolled her eyes. "We kissed. Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Alright, alright. Enjoy your picnic." He said sarcastically.

"Sure will." She answered with fake cheer.

They didn't stay there much longer as it started to get dark, so they decided to head home.

XXXXX

It was his thirtieth day sober and Tommy dusted the snow off his jacket before he walked into his meeting. Just as he was about to head to get his coffee fix he spotted Chris and decided it was time to speak to him.

"Hey Chris." He nodded at the man.

"Hi Tommy. How are you?"

"Doing well." He smiled. "Listen… I wanted to thank you. I know you're the one who gave me that number a while back and I really appreciate it, even if I didn't at the time."

He smiled. "Glad to hear it." Hesitation appeared in his voice before he spoke again. "And you know that offer is still open if you ever want to talk."

"Sure. Sounds great."

"I'm free after the meetings. So… whenever."

Tommy nodded in agreement, definitely planning to take him up on that offer.

The meeting went by without incident and they decided to stop off at a nearby deli for dinner and to chat.

"So, uh… how long have you been going?"

"About ten years."

"Ten?" He asked incredulously. "Wow… kudos, man."

"Thanks. You'll get there, just stick to it."

"I hope so. I messed up not too long ago."

"That's normal." He assured. "But we can talk about it if you want."

Tommy shrugged. "Just had a pretty bad nightmare. I moved into my sister's old place and I guess she left some wine in one of the cabinets."

Chris frowned. "It's understandable. But you made sure there wasn't any more in the house, right?"

He nodded. "Turned out I drank it all."

"Well… now you know how easy it is to relapse. You're better prepared."

"You ever relapse?"

He laughed. "Of course! I don't even know how many times. I've only been sober for six years. The other four were filled with relapses."

Tommy looked down and sighed. "So that means it'll take four years until I can start to get better?"

Chris shook his head. "Naw, everyone's different. And besides, the moment you walked through that door you started getting better."

Tommy smiled. "Thanks. That means a lot."

They got their food and continued with an easy, flowing conversation.

XXXXX

Jane called Maura out to the front yard. It was cold and the snow was falling gently. When Maura appeared at the door, Jane bent down to collect some snow.

"Don't even think about it." The cautious M.E. warned.

"What? I'm only making a snowman."

"Oh."

Jane smiled. "Did you think I was gonna do this?" She asked, lobbing the icy sphere to land at Maura's feet.

"No." Maura said, bending down to pick it up. "I thought you were going to do _this_." She ran at the detective and, when close enough to assure her accuracy, chucked the frozen ball at the side of her head.

Jane winced at the cold but laughed anyway. A small snowball fight ensued. As Jane started out on the ground, she was at a disadvantage but got a few good shots in anyway. A few minutes later, the game was over and a truce was enacted.

"Can I make my snowman now?" Jane asked, still covered with snow.

"Here, I'll help." Maura kneeled in the snow next to her and started making a ball of snow.

"You know how to make one?" She asked, slightly surprised.

Maura laughed. "Well, first of all it's not that difficult so even if I've never made one before I'm sure I could figure it out. And second of all, it was one of the few outside winter activities we were allowed to do at school."

"Oh, right." Jane felt a little foolish for asking that now but kept at rolling the ball around to make it bigger.

Within a few minutes they had three balls of snow, each of varying sizes, atop one another. Jane looked around before deciding to snap off a few frostbitten twigs from a nearby tree. She stuck them on either side of the middle ball while Maura put a few rocks in the top white globe.

They stood back to admire their handiwork and Maura frowned.

"You know, he's not very accurate."

Jane snorted. "For a snowman? I think it's fine. But you're welcome to stay out here and fix it."

Maura pursed her lips as she looked over their creation. "Nah, I think I'd rather just stay inside with you."

"Good choice." She extended a gloved hand towards the M.E., who then took it, and then led them inside.

They lied on the couch together for about an hour, just enjoying being together, with the fire going.

"Do we have anything planned for tomorrow?" Jane asked.

"No. Why?"

"I was thinking of going to get a Christmas tree. It's getting to be that time."

"Sounds good!" Maura chimed.

They sat there for a while longer before Maura got up.

"Where are you going?" Jane asked when she saw Maura put on her coat.

"Jessica's. To make sure she knows what moments we want photographed."

"You can't do that by phone?"

"I suppose. But it's best if I go there." She said as she headed to the door.

"But, baby, it's cold outside." She said in a half-song.

Maura laughed and then walked over to her. She cupped the detective's cheek and stared into her eyes. "I won't be too long." She promised with a kiss. "Ooh, your lips are delicious." She smiled, not even attempting to sing it, before she left.

XXXXX

The next day, they arrived at the tree lot. It was packed, snowy and cold but they were beyond happy. This would be their first ever Christmas tree together and they couldn't wait to pick it out.

They walked through the rows and rows of trees, gloved hands grasped together. The atmosphere was perfect. Just enough snow to lightly dust everything lightly, causing a magical effect, while not enough to be a hindrance. There were just enough people to fill the air with cheery laughter and holiday spirit but not so many as to be loud and annoying. The temperature had just enough bite to it to make it feel like winter but not so much so that they were shivering.

They took their time, just enjoying the experience. Maura liked to inspect the trees and determine its species. Most were of the expected Douglas, Noble and Grand Fir varieties but there were a few other types scattered about.

After they finally decided on a tree many minutes later, Jane instructed Maura to stay with it while she went to go get someone who would take it to their car.

"You need some help?"

Maura turned around and saw a man looking expectantly at the tree.

"Oh, no. My fiancée just went to find someone, thanks."

"Fiancé, huh? Shame." He looked her up and down, shamelessly ogling her.

Maura uncomfortably looked away towards Jane, who she could see talking to one of the people that worked here.

He followed her line of sight. "I thought you said fiancé."

"I did."

"Then who's she?" He said, nodding his head over at the woman she was looking at. "Or are you just playing hard to get?"

"She _is _my fiancée."

"_She _is?" He shook his head. "I can help you out with that. All you need is some good man-loving."

"Excuse me?" She couldn't believe he just said that.

"You heard me. And it would be my pleasure." He reached out to touch her but she yanked her arm away.

"If you don't walk away right now you'll regret it." Maura warned.

"Fine, whatever. Waste of my time, anyway." He said sharply before walking off, deciding to not waste his efforts on her anymore.

Jane walked up to the M.E. as the man was leaving, questioning look on her face. "What did he want?"

Maura shook her head. "Nothing."

Jane detected something amiss. "What did he say?" She asked a bit more forcefully.

"He was just being a jerk, that's all."

No more needed to be said. "Hey!" She started to run over towards him.

"Jane!" Maura reached out to try and stop her but she was too late.

The man turned around. "What?"

Jane grabbed him by the collar. "You messing with my girl?"

"I didn't touch her!"

"For your sake, I hope you're right!"

"Jane! Stop!" Maura protested. "Drop him!"

Jane complied.

He fixed his collar and walked off, muttering. "Crazy bitch."

"I appreciate the gesture but that was unnecessary." She placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

They turned back to their tree to find the employee standing there in confusion.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah… we'll take that one." Jane said sheepishly.

They brought it home and propped it up in the living room. Bass inspected it curiously while Joe barked happily. Jane left briefly before returning with a still unopened box labeled "Christmas Decorations".

After putting on some mood setting music, they spent started on decorating the tree with the minimal amount of ornaments she had. When Maura's back was turned Jane put a hat on Bass' back, being wary of the reptile's mouth, and snickered. Joe bounded over to Jane and barked, expecting one for herself.

Jane laughed and patted her on the head. "Sorry, Joe. I only had the one."

"Jane!" Maura said when she turned and saw the item adorning the reptile's shell. She took it off and threw it at the culprit.

"What? I was just having some fun!" She protested and then put it atop Joe's head. "Guess you get it after all."

Joe barked gleefully and began to run around the house in excitement.

Jane laughed at her pet's antics before reaching into the box for the final decoration. "You want to or should I?" She asked, holding up the angel that was to go on the top.

"You go ahead."

With the aid of a nearby chair, she placed it in its rightful place.

They stood back and admired their handiwork.

"It looks good." Maura noted.

"Yep! Now time for the rest of the house."

She gave her a confused look. "But there's no more decorations left."

"Don't worry; I'll take care of it." She placed a kiss on her cheek and walked into another room.

As Maura was busy cleaning up the pine needles that jumped ship, Jane was busy attaching sprigs of mistletoe to every doorway.

"Alright, I'm done!" Jane smiled several minutes later, looking around to make sure she didn't miss one.

Maura's eyebrow cocked up as she couldn't see anything different. "What did you do?"

"Only the most important thing." She pointed to several of the doorways that were in their line of sight. "Mistletoe." She dragged her under the nearest one and placed a kiss on her lips.

"Of course."

"But it kinda feels like we're missing something." She sifted through the box that was now full of packaging and pulled out the missing item. "Here we go!" She exclaimed, holding up her stocking. "Now we just need to make you one." She rifled around the box a little more but frowned. "I guess I used the last spare blank one for Joe."

"It's okay, I don't need one."

"Oh, c'mon, Maura. Where's your Christmas spirit?"

Maura shrugged, figuring it might be fun. She had no reason to doubt Jane in the past.

The next day they went to meet with their officiant and fill out their marriage license. On their way home they also picked up three blank stockings: one for Maura, one for Bass, and one for Watson.

They set to work as soon as they got home and spent the first few minutes in focused silence.

"So," Maura started, completing the second S in glitter glue on Bass' stocking, "are we going to your parent's house on Christmas or…?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"We always go to my grandmother's house on Christmas."

"Your grandmother's?"

"Yeah."

"You mean the one that was noticeably missing at our engagement party?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "I told you, she wasn't feeling well. She'll love you, I promise."

Maura sighed. "I hope you're right."

With that, the stockings were complete and they set them aside to dry and before going to start dinner.

XXXXX

Over the past few days Tommy and Chris had been spending time together and becoming fast friends. Currently they were hanging out at the batting cages.

"Whoa! That was a good one!" Tommy exclaimed when his friend hit the ball perfectly.

"Yeah!" He laughed and put the bat down before walking out of the gate. "Now let's see what _you _got!"

Just as Tommy was about to take his turn someone walked up to them.

"Hey Chris!"

"Hi Olivia." He smiled.

"Who's this?" She said with a knowing smirk.

"Relax, he's just a friend. His name's Tommy."

"Oh." She frowned, slightly disappointed. "Nice to meet you Tommy. So what are you guys up to?"

"You know… just hittin' some balls." He pointed to the cage that he just came out of.

"Yeah, I just got done… great therapy." She laughed. "But now I need a shower. I'll see you boys later!" She called as she walked away.

"See ya!" Chris yelled after her. He turned back to Tommy with an expectant look. "Well? Think you can do better than me?" He asked with a playful wink.

He did much better than him, not surprising since he had been a baseball fan since birth and was the star player on his little league team.

"I'm impressed." Chris said as they walked to a nearby diner for some lunch.

"Eh, it was nothing special." He smiled, trying to play it off.

While they were waiting for their order Tommy asked a question that had been bugging him. "What did you mean by '_just_ a friend'?"

Chris' eyebrows furrowed. "Oh… I guess I haven't said it yet. I'm gay."

That caught him off-guard. "R-really? Cool… my sister's – well… she's getting married to a woman."

"No kidding. Tell her congrats."

"Sure thing."

XXXXX

Jane was busy tying bows on their wedding favors when Maura bounded up to her.

"So, I was thinking about a change of pace in our bedroom. Which color should we go with?"

"I don't care, whichever one you want is fine."

"But I really want you to be a part of this, Jane. Which color do you think is best?" She holds up three cards.

"Maura…" She sighed and then studied them carefully. "Is there even a difference?"

"What?" She flipped the cards back to her and looked at them. "Of course there is! Don't you see it?"

Jane shook her head.

"See, this is blue. This is green. And this is yellow." She said, pointing at the respective colors.

"They all look beige to me."

"Well then it shouldn't be hard to pick one, should it?"

"Fine. This one." She said, blindly choosing the one in the middle.

"Green? Great! I was leaning towards that myself!" She said rather chipperly before heading out the door – presumably to go buy the paint. That woman sure didn't waste any time.

Less than an hour later Maura returned, paint in hand.

Jane jumped up to help, eager to do something other than tying endless knots. But, soon, she kind of wanted to get back to that.

She watched her paint roller go up and down against the wall. They had been at this for a while and she was getting _really _bored. She glanced over at Maura and an idea came to her mind. With a smile, she set the roller down and dipped her finger in the paint before sneaking up behind an unsuspecting doctor. She reached her hand around and touched her on the nose, transferring a bit of paint in the process.

"Jane!" Maura protested with a slight laugh. She turned around and tapped her paint roller on Jane's still smirking face.

Though no paint got in her mouth, she still spluttered. "Maura!"

"What? Only you're allowed to do that?" She laughed. It stopped when she saw Jane going for the paint bucket. "Wait, no! Not on this shirt!"

She stopped. "Why are you wearing a shirt you aren't willing to get paint on, anyway?"

"Because I don't own a shirt I'm willing to get paint on."

Jane put it back down. "You could've just borrowed one of my tank tops. I wouldn't mind seeing you in one, come to think of it." She winked.

"No offense, Jane, but I wouldn't be caught dead wearing anything in your wardrobe. I don't know why you always protest when I offer to take you shopping."

"Really? You don't know why?"

"Yes. I'm willing to completely change your lack of fashion. If I was in your position, I wouldn't be able to agree fast enough."

"Yeah, well, we're not the same if you haven't noticed."

"Thank god for that." She laughed.

They finished not too long after and collapsed on the bed to relax.

Maura looked over at Jane she hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "Jane… I've been… kind of working on something."

"Yeah?"

"Well… remember on Halloween we were talking about kids."

"Yes."

"I've been using some of my spare time in my lab doing research. She stopped to consider her next words carefully. "We might be able to conceive with our own eggs. Not anytime soon, of course, but in the future."

"Really? But I remember high school biology and I'm pretty sure you need both parts."

"Not if you create an artificial sperm and put the other person's DNA inside. It was originally developed for sterile men. There are other proposed methods besides that though."

"That's incredible." She said in awe. "So, wait…now you want kids?"

Maura shrugged. "I don't know. But now we'll have the option."

Jane nodded. "It is always nice to know it's possible."

The M.E. moved in closer, resting her head on Jane's chest. "Yeah, but I don't know if I'd want something getting in the way of _this." _

Jane just smiled, silently agreeing, as she stroked her hair. They laid there just long enough to get lulled into a nice, comfortable, nap.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Sorry for the delay. The next, and probably final, chapter might not be up until Saturday. Hope you enjoy.

XXXXX

It was the end of another successful meeting and Tommy and Chris headed out together.

"Hey, uh… Olivia's having this Christmas party if you wanted to go." Chris said, scratching his ear out of nervousness.

"Sounds like fun but I have plans with the family then."

"Well… it's not _on _Christmas. It's the twenty-second."

"Oh. Yeah, then… if she's okay with it then I'd love to."

"She'll be fine with it. And besides, my invitation said 'and guest'."

"Alright, sound's good." He smiled as they continued their walk towards their favorite café.

XXXXX

"All I need you to do, Maura, is try everything on and make sure you like it." John said, ushering her into the other room. He didn't have the veil or shoes ready during their last fitting but was now very pleased with the outcome of both dresses.

She slipped on the outfit. "Like I said before, John: you're a genius."

"I know. And it's always nice to hear." He smiled.

After she took it off she thanked him again and traded places with her fiancée.

Jane tried on her things as well and it fit perfectly this time.

"I don't know how to thank you, John. This is _way _better than having to go from store to store searching for the impossible."

He beamed. "Once again, you are welcome, my dear. Now hurry up and get undressed. I have a three o'clock coming in soon."

Jane smiled and then followed his orders. She met up with Maura in the other room and they walked out of the small shop. "Oh, Maura… I just remembered something."

"Yes?"

"Is there any chance we can call the hotel and cancel the open bar?"

"What?" Maura questioned. She was the one who wanted it in the first place.

"Tommy."

"Oh, right. Of course. I'll call them as soon as we get home." She said.

"Thanks. Though I bet some of my other relatives will be disappointed."

Maura shrugged. "We'll still have wine so at least there's _something _for them."

"Yeah… I guess you're right." She said as they made their way home.

In between work and appointments dealing with various wedding things, they were determined to spend quality time together before the big day.

Maura was looking at Jane as they sat on the couch and couldn't help but let out a happy sigh. "God, you are so pulchritudinous."

"Um… should I be insulted?"

"Of course not, Jane." Maura smiled and gave her a kiss before hopping off the couch and leaving the room to feed Bass.

A few minutes later Jane entered the room Maura was in, dictionary in hand. "Yeah, well I think you're concupiscent." She said, failing to pronounce the word correctly.

Maura smiled nonetheless and gave her a kiss. "And I love that you try, but it's pronounced concupiscent."

"Whatever." She said with a smirk.

XXXXX

"Hey Liv!" Chris greeted the hostess when she answered the door.

"Chris! And… Tommy? What a nice surprise!" She gave a questioning look to Chris for a moment before inviting them in.

After being introduced to all of Chris' other friends and sampling the outlaid snacks, Olivia came over to them.

"Chris, can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked.

"Sure." He said before shrugging his shoulders at Tommy to indicate he had no idea what she wanted.

"What are you doing with him?" She hissed as soon as they were out of earshot.

"What do you mean?"

"A straight boy, Chris? You know better than that! Or do I need to remind you about – "

"No! _Don't_ say his name." He shuttered, remembering a not-so-great part of his life. "And I told you: we're just friends." He said with as much conviction as he could muster up.

Her gaze softened. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I'll be fine."

She sighed. "That's what you said last time…"

"I'll be fine." He stated again before going to rejoin Tommy.

XXXXX

A few days passed and the morning of Christmas eve arrived and Maura Isles was at a loss of what to wear.

"Maura, it's gonna be fine!" She tried to reason. She was making way too big a deal out of this.

"But she's your grandmother. And this is the first time I'm meeting her. I want to make a good first impression."

"You could wear a paper bag and make a great first impression, trust me."

Maura stopped and looked at Jane. "That's not exactly logical."

Jane just sighed. "Well if you take any longer we're gonna be late and that will make an even worse impression."

The M.E. knew she was right. She decided on an outfit she had discarded several minutes ago and in a few minutes they were on their way.

"Oh, Jane, there you are! We were worried you wouldn't show!" Jane's grandmother said when they arrived. "And I'm so sorry for missing the engagement party."

"It's no problem. As long as you'll be there for the wedding."

"Of course." She smiled and turned to her companion. "And this must be Maura! I'm so glad to be finally meeting you."

Maura smiled warmly at the older woman. "You as well." She reached out for a handshake but was surprised when she was pulled into a hug.

"Welcome to the family!" Granny Rizzoli smiled when she pulled away. "Come on inside and I'll show you to your room."

They followed her in and up the stairs.

"So where did you two decide on for your honeymoon?" She asked.

"Hawai'i. I found this wonderful resort on Maui." Maura answered.

"Oh, that sounds lovely!" She cooed as she directed them down a hall. "Just go ahead and put your bags in here, Jane." She instructed, pointing the same room she always resided in during the holidays.

"Um… where would you like me to stay?" Maura asked when the older woman walked away without giving her a room assignment.

"Oh, I am under no impression that you two don't sleep in the same bed. You two can share that room." She smiled sweetly.

Jane and Maura put their overnight things in the room and then joined the others back downstairs where they greeted the remainder of the Rizzoli family.

"Oh, Tommy, I've been meaning to ask you something." Maura said.

"Yeah?"

"Bass is going to be one of our ring bearers… would you carry him down the aisle?"

"Who's Bass?"

"My tortoise. I have a picture of him." Maura said as she pulled out her wallet and showed the picture. At the same time, Jane did a facepalm. You could almost hear her thoughts: _A picture, Maura? Really?_

"Wait, you want me to carry _him_?" He blanched at the size of the reptile in the photo.

"Relax, he's only fifty pounds."

He laughed. "_Only _fifty?" He knew he could handle it but, still, it was a pretty big number.

"If you don't want to do it I can probably find someone else to."

"No, it's fine. Really. I'd be happy to."

She smiled. "Great!"

They chatted, catching up, for a few hours until it started to get dark and they needed to get started on dinner.

Not too long later it was done and they enjoyed a nice conversation as they ate.

A bit after they were done, Granny Rizzoli made her special hot chocolate and ushered everyone into the living room.

"Alright, is everybody ready?" She asked, coming into the room with a DVD in hand.

"Oh, you're gonna love this," Jane grinned, unusually giddy. "It's tradition to watch 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' every year."

"This is your first time seeing this, Maura?" Granny Rizzoli asked. She couldn't believe that she hadn't seen it just once.

"Yes, it is."

"We'll I'm glad you can share it with us." She smiled and then started the movie.

Hot cocoa in hand, they each picked a spot on the couch, got under a blanket, and settled in for the thirty-minute featurette.

It didn't take long for Maura to become intrigued with the story. And Jane, who normally paid attention to it every year, was now focused on the woman sitting next to her and came to one conclusion: her future wife was absolutely adorable.

"Oh, that poor dog!" Maura exclaimed when Max had to carry the presents of Whoville up the mountain.

Everyone in the room turned to look at her and suppressed a laugh.

As the movie was nearing its end, Maura smiled when, despite their lack of presents, all the Whos in Whoville came around in a circle and began to sing. She even began to tear up when the Grinch had his realization that later caused his heart to grow three sizes larger.

"So?" Jane asked when the end credits showed on screen. "How'd you like it?"

Everyone else looked at her, curious as to what she will say.

"It was sweet. But not really a happy ending."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well… despite learning what Christmas was all about he ended up with cardiomegaly. And, anyway, getting a condition like that so suddenly – he would have never made it back down to town. More than likely he would have had a myocardial infarction and the Whos wouldn't find him until next spring."

Jane laughed. "She tends to be a bit literal." She explained to her grandmother who had a slightly horrified look on her face.

"Is that so?" The horror turned to slight amusement as she turned the movie off.

They shifted their attention to a myriad of board games, all of which Maura has never played before. Despite that she still won most of the games that had to do with skill rather than chance.

Soon they were all tuckered out and headed to bed.

Morning came and Maura awoke. She smiled at the sleeping Jane beside her, brushed away the strand of hair stuck to the side of her face by a generous amount of drool, and headed downstairs.

"Hello Maura." Granny Rizzoli greeted. "You're up early."

She checked the nearby clock. It was five thirty-two. "Oh, I guess I am. I'm sorry, I can go back upstairs if you wanted some alone time."

"Don't be silly. Get yourself some coffee and we can chat until the others get up. It'll probably be awhile."

Maura gave a grateful smile to the other woman before fixing up her morning beverage.

Slowly but surely over the next few hours the others made their appearance. When Frankie finally appeared from his room they all made their way to the tree to exchange presents.

It didn't take too long for all the gifts to be exchanged and, after a round of thanks from everybody, they sat down for a nice big Christmas breakfast.

XXXXX

Christmas was over and New Years Eve came in a flash. Besides work, their days were so filled with last minute wedding details and confirmations that they almost lost track of the dates and they were honestly surprised when the last day of 2010 rolled around.

Bubbly in hand, they collapsed on the couch, ready to ring in the New Year with people only a couple hundred miles away in New York City.

"Well this has been one hell of a year, hasn't it?" Jane said.

"Definitely." She had to agree. "And let's hope there's more to come." She lifted up her glass. "Here's to our life together."

"No one else I would rather spend it with." The detective smiled before clinking the offered glass.

They each took a sip before the final countdown started and gave each other a nice long kiss as the perfect way to welcome the New Year.

XXXXX

Tommy arrived at Chris' house to spend the latter half of the first day of the new year with him.

They spent some time talking before watching a movie that Chris had picked up a few days prior, which was basically a zombie filled bloodbath. It had a pretty weak plot but it entertained the two men well enough.

A little over an hour and a half later, the credits rolled. Chris turned it off and moved to get off the couch but was stopped by a hand.

"Tommy?"

"I, uh… want to tell you something."

He turned to face the other man. "Yeah?"

"I don't know why but I feel like I can trust you. Like _really _trust you. And I haven't felt that way with anyone besides my family in a long time."

"I'm getting the feeling you're about to tell me something big."

Tommy nodded. "That's cause I am."

When Chris sensed some hesitancy in his companion his eyes softened and he put a comforting hand on his knee to show the other man that he had his full attention.

"When I was about eight me and my brother and sister went to camp. It went great until a couple days till the end when my cabin leader raped me."

Chris' eyes widened in surprise. He had imagined a tough childhood – maybe a bully problem – but never anything like this. "Wow… Tommy… I'm so sorry." A moment passed before he spoke again. "I feel the same with you – trust you, I mean. I know we're in Massachusetts but I've never had a straight guy react like you did. Usually they get defensive." He praised and then paused. "You are straight, aren't you?"

Tommy shrugged. "I'm not really anything. Ever since… you know… I've never really been attracted to anyone."

"Really?" Chris asked with intrigue prominent in his voice. "So you're like… asexual?"

"I don't know if I'd go that far… I just – I don't know."

"Sorry."

"No, don't. It's fine I just… don't really know what to tell you."

Chris nodded in understanding.

A silence passed between them and neither one could think of something to say.

"So… how 'bout those steaks?" Chris said, jumping up to get dinner started. Tommy got up to help him and soon they had dinner on the table.

Tommy cut into his steak and put a piece up to his mouth but stopped. "Hey, uh… my sister's wedding is coming up. Wanna come? Not as a date or anything but like as friends. I mean, it'll probably be totally boring." He said before taking a bite.

Chris beamed. "I'd love to… but you sure your sister will be fine with it?"

"Of course. Besides," Tommy said with a smirk, "my invitation said 'and guest'."

"Touche." He laughed as he pointed his fork at him.

They enjoyed the rest of the meal conversing about various things, to include the upcoming wedding. Chris was absolutely fascinated by how the two women came to be engaged and couldn't wait to meet them.

XXXXX

The week leading up to the wedding was a blur of hair and nail appointments, rehearsal dinners, and any other tasks not yet done. In no time at all it was the sixth of January and both women collapsed on their respective beds – Maura at home and Jane at her parent's.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Sorry for the wait. Here's the last chapter. The song used for their first dance is "I See The Light" from the Disney movie Tangled. I suggest listening to it when you get to that part.

XXXXX

Jane awoke. She looked to her right and frowned when Maura wasn't there but then beamed an instant later when she remembered why. She was getting married today.

She hopped out of bed and headed into the bathroom, nervous butterflies threatening to carry her away.

Halfway across town, Maura was just taking the last sip of her morning coffee. She had been ready for a while but didn't have to leave for the hotel for another half-hour. She let out another sigh of impatience as she looked at the clock for the third time that minute.

"Maura… you know as well as I do that the clock won't change if you watch it!" Stacey chimed when she walked out of the guest room.

"I know." She smiled at her – well, actually, just looked at her, as the smile hadn't left her face since she woke up. "I just can't wait for everything to get started."

Stacey went over to her and took her cup from her hands before placing it on the counter. She then took Maura's hands in her own and looked into her eyes. "Just be patient. It'll all happen if you give it a chance to."

Maura nodded. "I know. But thank you anyway."

"No problem!" She said and then grabbed Maura's coffee before taking a sip. She immediately spit it back in the cup, much to Maura's displeasure. "Eww… no sugar?"

The M.E. just took the cup back. "I guess I was done with that…" She quipped as she put it in the dishwasher.

XXXXX

Angela Rizzoli was in the kitchen when she saw Jane come into the room. She immediately jumped up in glee and nearly tackled her with a hug. "Janey!" She squealed. "You're getting married today!"

"Yeah, thanks Ma. I hadn't figured that out yet." She said sarcastically when she pulled away.

"Don't you sass me, young lady! I can't help it that I'm excited."

Jane couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I know. Me too." She said, grabbing a cup and heading to the coffee pot.

"You better hurry up with that," Angela warned. "We need to get to the hotel soon."

Jane just nodded and poured her coffee.

Not too long after, Jane and Maura arrived – though in separate limos – and they each went to separate dressing rooms. Angela went to help Jane – much to Jane's annoyance – while Maura had her cousin and aunt to assist.

Outside, everyone was setting up. Flowers were being put in their rightful places and chairs were being straightened. When guests started to arrive, the atmosphere became tense with excitement as everyone tried to finish their tasks before the time set for the afternoon wedding.

"Maura?" Tommy called out looking for the bride. "Anyone see Maura around?"

"She should still be getting ready. Down the hall." Richard Isles said when he passed the frantic man in the hall.

He nodded a thanks at him and went down there.

He knocked on a door, hoping it was the right one, and it opened to reveal Stacey.

"Can I help you?"

"I need to talk to Maura."

"She's a little busy."

"It's about Bass."

Only partially dressed, Maura heard the name and came to the door. "What about Bass? Is he okay?"

"He's fine but… I tried picking him up but he's a little awkward to carry. Is there any other way to get him down there?"

Maura thought for a moment before going back inside only to come to the door a second later. "Here. Lure him down the aisle with these."

"Strawberries?"

"British strawberries. His favorite."

Tommy just nodded and took the bowl without questioning his slightly odd soon to be sister-in-law.

He went back to his post next to the tortoise carrier and scratched an awaiting Joe Friday behind the ears. He bit into one of the berries. "Huh… these _are _good."

"Something tells me you're not supposed to be eating those." Chris said with a smile as he stood next to him.

Tommy shrugged. "There's plenty, don't worry." He took another bite and then offered one to the other man, who waved it away.

Soon, guests arrived and it didn't take long for all of them to be seated and waiting. Moments later, music started, signaling the beginning of the ceremony.

Angela and Debbie walked in first. They took their seats as the officiant took his place in the front. Frankie and Stacey came down next, arm in arm. Next came Lilly, gleefully throwing petals along the path from her basket. Joe Friday, with a pillow – complete with ring – strapped to her back, bounded down but stopped halfway. She looked back and waited for Bass to follow.

Tommy groaned in frustration. "C'mon Bass." He wiggled the red fruit in front of the reptile's mouth.

Bass just looked away, uninterested. Sure he was hungry – not to mention those were his absolute favorite – but this was Maura's wedding day and he would do anything he could to make sure she wouldn't end up with Jane.

He sighed. "Move! Stupid turtle… c'mon."

Joe barked, trying to goad the tortoise to follow.

The reptile growled internally. Looked like all the Rizzoli's were the same. Deciding he was done for now he started to turn around.

"Oh no you don't!" Tommy grabbed him by the sides of his shell.

Bass looked down in alarm when he felt that his feet were no longer on the ground. He tried to squirm as much as a tortoise could but it was no use. It felt like he was flying as he was brought over to the front – albeit slowly – and placed on the floor there. He tried to get away a couple of times but a vigilant Tommy made him stay in place.

Now it was Jane's turn to come down the aisle.

Everyone in the room turned to face the back door as she entered on her father's arm and walked slowly. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before he sat down next to Angela.

Lastly, with Richard, Maura came down the aisle. Most everyone's eyes were on her, except Angela and Frank, who were currently watching their daughter's eyes light up.

When Maura stepped next to Jane the cleric smiled at the two before starting.

"I want to thank you all for joining us on this wondrous day to witness the marriage between these two beautiful women. If there is anyone who believes these two should not be wed then speak now or forever hold your peace."

He waited for a moment before continuing on.

"Very well. The couple has decided to write their own vows. Maura, would you go first?"

"Yes." She smiled and turned to her love. "Jane, you are amazing. Despite how good I am with words, I found the task of writing how I feel for you to be very difficult." She let out a laugh and then took in a breath. "You've given me something I never thought I would have: a home. You've made me actually feel like I belong somewhere and now I can't believe that I do. I love you more than I thought it was possible to love another human being and I am so happy we found each other. I think, though, that what truly shows how much I feel for you is when we're apart. I just… miss things about you that I couldn't ever imagine missing about someone. Like the drool I always have to wipe away from your face in the morning." She laughed and many people in the room followed along. "You mean more to me than anything and I promise to always love you no matter what." She wiped away an errant tear and nodded to Jane, telling her it was her turn.

"Well… I don't know if I can do much better than that." She laughed before continuing. "Maura, from the moment I laid eyes on you – I remember that you were leaning over a corpse – I knew there was something special about you and, somehow, I knew that you would become a huge part of my life. My connection to you was immediate and I spent the first few months of our friendship getting to know you and, unbeknownst to me at the time, falling in love with you. When I woke up in the hospital and you were sitting beside me things clicked into place. Ever since that moment I've seen the world differently. Maura, I simply adore you and I hope to spend the rest of my life proving that to you."

"Very well said." The cleric smiled. "Now it's my turn. May we have the rings please?"

Jane bent down to pick up Maura's ring from Joe and Maura picked up Jane's with a pat on the shell to Bass.

"The wedding ring is an outward sign of an inward and spiritual bond which unites two loyal hearts in endless love. Jane, do you take Maura to be your wife?"

"I do."

"Do you promise to love her, honor her, protect and keep her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her forevermore?"

"I do." Her grin was so wide it threatened to split her face in two.

He nodded and turned to Maura. "And do you, Maura, take Jane to be your wife?

"I do."

"Do you promise to love her, honor her, protect and keep her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her forevermore?"

"I do." She said with a crack of emotion. She reached up to wipe her eyes and smiled at Jane.

"Jane, would you please repeat after me?"

She nodded and then did so.

"I, Jane, take thee Maura to be my wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, in joy and sorrow, and I promise my love to you."

Still repeating, Jane readied the white gold band over Maura's finger and smiled up at her love. "With this ring I take you as my wife for as long as we both shall live." She slipped it on.

The cleric turned to Maura for her turn.

"I, Maura, take thee Jane to be my wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, in joy and sorrow, and I promise my love to you. With this ring, I take you as my wife for as long as we both shall live."

She put the matching ring on Jane's finger.

"You may now seal your vows with a kiss."

Their eyes shone with tears unshed as they leaned in for a kiss.

"Well then, by the power vested in me by the state of Massachusetts, I now pronounce you wife and wife. You may kiss your brides."

Arm in arm, they exited as everyone else clapped.

The guests were directed to the reception room where coffee and small pastries were being served while things were being set up for the reception while Jane and Maura were busy being photographed in various locations around the hotel.

After guests had their fill of food and conversation, the guests of honor walked in when they were announced.

"Please welcome, for their first dance as a married couple, Jane and Maura Rizzoli-Isles." Alan Slater, the DJ, said through the microphone.

The hall erupted into applause for them as they took their spot on the dance floor. The music began to play and they smiled to each other. Though they may have practiced this song over and over and _over _– at Maura's insistence – it didn't feel like it had been overdone. It felt fresh, new and exciting but also extremely familiar and comforting.

They curtsied to each other before the vocals started and then strode together. They put their hands in the appropriate positions, with Maura leading.

_All those days watching from the windows  
>All those years outside looking in<br>All that time never even knowing just how blind I've been_

Jane was still unsure about dancing with everyone's eyes on them but, with a smile from Maura, she knew that it would be okay.

_Now I'm here, blinking in the starlight  
>Now I'm here; suddenly I see<br>Standing here it's oh so clear I'm where I'm meant to be_

_And at last I see the light and it's like the fog has lifted  
>And at last I see the light and it's like the sky is new<br>And it's warm and real and bright  
>And the world has somehow shifted<em>

_All at once everything looks different now that I see you_

They switched from gentle swaying to more advanced moves as the song shifted from vocal to instrumental. A few turns and twists later, the words reappeared and they moved back to swaying as they looked in each other's eyes and shared in this beautiful moment.

_All those days chasing down a daydream  
>All those years living in a blur<br>All that time never truly seeing things the way they were_

_Now she's here, shining in the starlight  
>Now she's here; suddenly I know<br>If she's here it's crystal clear I'm where I'm meant to go_

_And at last I see the light  
>And it's like the fog has lifted<br>And at last I see the light  
>And it's like the sky is new<em>

_And it's warm and real and bright  
>And the world has somehow shifted<em>

_All at once everything is different now that I see you  
>Now that I see you<em>

With a turn and a dip, Maura was brought in for a light kiss as everyone applauded the end of their first dance.

After the song was over two men went out onto the dance floor and joined them. Frank took Jane by the hand while Richard did the same with Maura and they shared in the father-daughter dance, switching partners halfway through.

There was not a dry eye in the building as they walked away from the floor and to their table. They accepted a glass of wine and thanked their guests.

Frankie stood up and clanged the side of his glass, ready for his toast. "I'm not too good at this speech stuff so I'll make it short. Jane, you are the best sister I could have ever asked for and Maura, you are the best sister-in-law I could ever hope for. You two will, no doubt, make each other very happy. Though I'm sure you don't need it, I want to wish you good luck in the future."

Everyone applauded and then Stacey took her turn.

"First of all I want to say thank you for letting me share this day with you as your maid-of-honor. You've been one of my closest friends for as long as I can remember and I am very thankful to have you in my life. Jane, I don't know you very well now but I hope that I will someday. You've made my cousin very happy and I know that you will for the rest of your lives. I guess I'll just echo Frankie and say good luck."

After everyone clapped for her, Angela stood up and Jane's eyes rolled and several people in the room sighed, knowing they should make themselves comfortable. "I know, I know." She said, seeing some of them. "I'll make it short, I promise." A few laughs came from the crowd. "I just want to say good luck to Jane and Maura with their lives together. I know you'll grow old together and give me plenty of grandchildren somehow. Maura, I think I can speak for the rest of the family when I say that we have been so blessed to have you in our lives. You have changed things greatly and for the better. Jane, you better not do anything to drive her away." She said, mocking threat in her voice. "And just – good luck."

Jane and Maura thanked them and everyone in the room drank to their future happiness.

Things shifted to the bouquet toss and it went off without incident. In the end, Danielle held up the bunch of flowers in victory and Angela made a comment to Frankie about this being a sign that he was next. Frankie just rolled his eyes and rejoined his date.

As soon as everyone got settled, dinner was served. Everyone enjoyed either a chicken or a beef dish along with potatoes, broccoli, and a salad. Wine and conversation were flowing freely as light music was being played. The songs were a mix of Jane's 'maybe' list with some that Maura had come up with filled in with whatever the DJ thought would make everyone happy. Eventually, people got up and headed to the dance floor to join in the festivities.

Jane and Maura didn't do much more dancing but, instead, visited with many of the people in the room.

"Jane, this is my grandfather, Wilfred Isles."

"It's nice to meet you, sir." She said, shaking his hand.

He regarded her for a moment before smiling. "You as well, my dear. But I must warn you, we Isles' protect our own like a mother bear protects her cubs. Do anything to hurt her and you will regret it."

"Of course. I would never – I love her dearly and will do anything in my power to keep her safe. I meant my vows, Mr. Isles."

He smiled. "Good. Then welcome to the family."

Jane returned the smile. "Thank you."

As they walked away to meet with someone else, Jane made a comment to Maura on how scary her grandfather was. Maura just laughed before spotting Frost and Korsak. She dragged Jane over there to say hi.

Across the room, Tommy and Chris were seated.

"Hi guys. Great party, huh?" Marisa walked up to them.

"Hey Marisa." Tommy greeted his neighbor. He met her not too long after he moved in. They didn't talk much but they got along. "Yeah, it's great."

"Anyone up for some dancing?"

"No thanks." Chris said. Tommy just shook his head.

"Oh, come on!" She looked at both of them before grabbing Tommy's hands and pulling him up. "It'll only be a couple of minutes!"

"Fine, fine." Tommy conceded as he was dragged out to the dance floor. It didn't seem like he had much of a choice there anyway.

"So… is he, like, your date?" She asked when they got used to the rhythm.

He just gave her a look that told her to try another topic.

"Alrighty then, I was only asking."

He glanced at Chris, who was watching the two of them, and then back at Marisa. "Sorta."

"What?"

"He's sorta my date."

"And he's okay with me dancing with you?"

"That's why I said sorta. We're not really _that _kind of date."

"But you want to be." It wasn't a question. She knew.

He didn't, however. His mind was still muddled up when it came to this sort of thing but he knew he felt comfortable around the other man. "Maybe. Eventually." It would take some time, he knew, but was working on it in therapy.

Marisa just nodded.

They danced together until the song ended and Tommy went back to Chris. A few more songs went by before it was time to cut the cake.

Accepting the knife from the caterer, Jane placed the blade of it to rest upon the cake. Maura's hand was laid atop hers and they pushed it down together. When it cut through the cake, the two leaned in for a kiss. Then the caterer cut a slice and put it on a plate, where each of the new brides took a piece in hand. They smiled at each other and lifted their hands towards their love's face, ready to complete the very familiar symbolic gesture.

Maura knew what was in Jane's head and prayed she would decide not to go through with it.

Jane saw the look and frowned internally. Instead of completely forgoing her plan, she decided just to modify it. Her hand did go up a bit past Maura's mouth but not forcefully so. Instead, she put a dot of the sweet butter cream frosting on her nose as she accepted the food from Maura's hand into her own mouth. Then she fed Maura the remaining piece of cake.

Maura gave Jane a look and then closed her eyes when she saw her moving towards her, expecting a kiss. She was surprised when she felt soft lips press upon her nose, kissing the icing away. She opened her eyes to see Jane reaching for a nearby napkin and then wipe the remainder of it off.

"I couldn't help it." Jane smiled.

The guests enjoyed their own slice of chocolate cake with raspberry filling and sweet butter cream frosting as dancing continued on for another hour or so. When the party started to wind down, the DJ came back on the microphone.

"Everyone, please direct your attention to the floor as the couple dance to the last song."

Michael Bublé's version of "The Best Is Yet to Come" started as Jane and Maura met on the dance floor.

This dance was less rehearsed than their first one but went smoothly anyway.

As soon as it was over, people offered their last congratulations and left. Once most everyone was out of the room, Jane and Maura went up to their suite for the night.

"Don't forget, Jane, we can't just stay here tomorrow. We need to get home and finish packing so we can leave the next day." She said as they entered.

"I know, I know. But can we just enjoy tonight without worrying about all that?"

Maura smiled. "Of course." She leaned in for a hug and, when she pulled away she pressed firmly on Jane's side, looking closely at Jane's expression. When she didn't see a hint of pain she internally sighed in relief. "Let me just change into something else." She said in a flirty tone before she took something out of her bag and headed into the bathroom.

"Good idea. I think I'll do the same." She said, thinking it odd that Maura needed to change in the bathroom but didn't think much of it as she pulled on a white shirt and pajama pants.

A few minutes later, Maura walked out in lingerie.

Jane looked up at her and froze. She took it all in for a moment before getting her brain back. "Oh… we're doing that now?" She rifled through her bags to get hers and headed into the bathroom.

The M.E. just chuckled at her wife before opening up the complimentary champagne and pouring a couple of glasses.

When Jane walked out several minutes later, Maura almost dropped her glass, never having seen Jane like that before. She regained composure soon after and handed Jane a glass.

She accepted it and, after a silent clink, they took a sip.

Jane placed her glass on the table and then took Maura's to do the same. She then wrapped her arm around her waist and brought her in closer for a kiss. In no time it became passionate. Their tongues danced out in the exposed air between their lips as their hands explored the other's body as if it was for the first time.

Maura effectively pulled away from Jane after she was done sucking on her tongue and shifted her attention to the detective's neck. She kissed her way down slowly before allowing her tongue to gently skim along it back up to Jane's mouth. Her tongue traced around the inner edge of Jane's lip, coaxing out a moan.

Straps were pushed down and buttons unbuttoned as they disrobed each other. Jane kissed every new surface of skin as it was exposed which made Maura shiver in anticipation. As she discarded the top she placed gentle kisses against the delicate breasts before meeting with Maura's lips once again.

Now completely undressed, the two swayed together to the music in their head. Their thighs, pelvises, stomachs and breasts pressed together. The feeling of skin on skin was indescribable and they kissed each other with purpose and passion.

Maura ran her hands up against the mounds of Jane's chest to massage them gently, eliciting a moan from the woman.

They pulled away and Jane gazed into Maura's eyes as she gently caressed her cheek. They held the gaze for a few moments before they leaned in and kissed more deeply and passionately than they ever had.

Mouths wide open and tongues dancing together, the two made their way to the bed and collapsed into a mass of limbs and linen.

There they consummated their marriage. But they didn't just have sex – they made love and shared in the intense emotional experience that bonded them closer together. For hours they tangled in the sheets, learning and relearning the luscious contours of the body beneath them.

And there they slept, naked limbs intertwined and a thin layer of sweat dotting their skin, as newly married Jane and Maura Rizzoli-Isles.


End file.
